The Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Individuals (LGBT) in the Profession assesses the status of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender scholars in the profession; advances the research on LGBT issues; develops curriculum materials; and works to ensure equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ political scientists.

Committee Members

Term expiring September 6, 2026

• Quinn Albaugh, Queen’s University
• Jerome Hunt, Long Beach City College, Chair

Term expiring September 5, 2027

• Gabriele Magni, Loyola Marymount University
• Be Stone, Rhodes College

Term expiring September 5, 2028

• Cyril Ghosh, Clark University
• Patrick R. Miller, Kent State University 

The 2026 application cycle for the APSA Committee on the Status of LGBT Individuals Travel Grants opens on May 1, 2026 and closes June 28, 2026.

The Committee will support travel grants in support of APSA Annual Meeting conference participation. Travel grants will be provided to individuals attending the Annual Meeting. Grants will not exceed $300 per awardee. Priority will be given to applicants with accepted poster and paper presentations, or individuals attending APSA to engage in service on LGBT-related committees/sections. Individuals participating in the Annual Meeting as chairs and discussants are still eligible to apply. 

Grant Recipients:

The committee awarded 11 recipients of the award in 2025. Select grant winners are listed below:

• Alex Avery, Washington University in St. Louis
• Edwina Chen, University of South Carolina
• Nicholas Damico, Syracuse University
• Maya Fitch, University of Houston
• Claire L. Ma, University of Michigan
• Soyeon Park, Michigan State University
• Sara Maaria Saastamoinen, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
• Alena Wolflink, University of Denver

Statement on Discriminatory Legislation Against the LGBTQ Community and its Implications for Our Professional Conference Siting Decisions – July 6, 2021

Joint Statement on the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society for Political Methodology – April 16, 2018

Projects and Activities

• Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and the Transgendered in Political Science: Report on a Discipline-Wide Survey (.pdf; published January, 2010)
• Recent Works Published on LGBT Politics (.pdf)
• Review of U.S. Politics Textbooks
  The Committee authorized a review of 17 recent editions of top-selling textbooks marked for use in courses that provide an introduction to U.S. Politics.  The result of that review were published as “Survey of Textbooks for Teaching Introduction to U.S. Politics: (How) Do They See Us” (.pdf) in PS: Political Science & Politics, Vol. 40, No. 2 (April 2007) 
• Online Syllabi Project
  LGBT in the Profession has started to collect and review available online syllabi for courses in gender, sexuality, and American politics.  For a list of some of these syllabi, see the APSA Online Political Science Syllabi page and scroll to the topic heading Gender, Sexuality, and American Politics.  
  
  If you would like to submit a syllabus for that list for review, please forward an electronic copy or link to  Patricia J. Campbell (University of West Georgia).

Related Material

• Political Science Today 3.3 Special Edition: Ken Sherill and 50 Years of Queer Scholarship Celebration
• Symposium: The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage
• American Library Association’s Transgender Bibliography
• Sexuality and Politics Section

Related Organizations and Programs

• APSA’s Mentoring Program
• Sexuality and Politics Section
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Political Science Caucus

Previous Panels or Roundtables at the APSA Annual Meeting:

• 2025 Roundtable: Contemporary Challenges for LGBTQ Political Scientists
• 2024 Roundtable: 50 Years of LGBTQ Scholarship at APSA Mini-Conference: Globalizing the Study of LGBTQ Politics
• 2022 Panel: The Politics of Panic: Backlash, Dog Whistles, and the Erosion of LGBTQ Victories
• 2021 Roundtable: Exploring LGBTQ contributions to and inclusion in the BLM movement: opportunities and challenges
• 2020 Roundtable: The Violence of Hate Speech Against Racial, Gender, and Sexual Populations
• 2019 Roundtable: LGBTQ+ Political Scientists: Sharing Our Experiences in the Profession and Welcoming a New Generation of Colleagues
• 2018 Roundtable: The Trump Administration and the Courts: The Impact on LGBT Rights 
• 2018 Roundtable: Improving Diversity in Political Methodology
• 2017 Panel: A Discussion of Notable LGBT Rights Books from 2016
• 2016 Panel: The Future of Transgender Rights
• 2014 Panel: Navigating the Academic Seas: Career Strategies for LGBT Scholars
• 2013 Roundtable: LGBT Rights after Perry and Windsor
• 2012 Panel: The Politics of Defining “The Family”
• 2012 Panel: President Obama and LGBT Issues
• 2011 Roundtable: Transgender Political Science? A Roundtable Discussion on the Whats, Hows, and Whos of the Research