Jones, Philip Edward2024-07-162024-07-162024-05-24Jones, P. E. (2024). Language and LGBTQ Politics: The Effect of Changing Group Labels on Public Attitudes. American Politics Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X2412538101552-3373https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/34577This is the Accepted Manuscript version of Jones, P. E. (2024). Language and LGBTQ Politics: The Effect of Changing Group Labels on Public Attitudes. American Politics Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X241253810. This article was originally published in American Politics ResearchOnlineFirst. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X241253810. © The Author(s) 2024, Article Reuse Guidelines https://sagepub.com/journals-permissionsThe labels used to describe sexual and gender minorities in the U.S. have shifted over time and become increasingly inclusive. Movement organizations have changed from describing the “lesbian, gay, and bisexual” (“LGB”) community to adding transgender (“LGBT”) and then also queer (“LGBTQ”) identities. Do these different labels affect public views of the group and support for their rights? I embedded a question wording experiment in a statewide survey, asking respondents about either LGB, LGBT, or LGBTQ people. The labels had no discernible effect on (1) support for requiring businesses to serve the group; nor (2) views of the group’s political leanings. There is no evidence that ideology and partisanship moderated these null effects: liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, were unaffected by the changing designations. This suggests public attitudes are not contingent on how the LGBTQ community is labelled, a finding with implications both for movement organizations and survey researchers.en-USLGBTQquestion wordingsurvey experimentgroup labelsArticle