ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks question, to what extent is the lesbian and gay movement in the US influenced by the state compared to other possibly relevant factors. Most recent work on the lesbian and gay movement in the US focuses on the impact of one factor to the exclusion of others. However, these efforts were not sufficient to gain entry into the polity and, as argues, ironically, it would be the emergence of the Religious Right that would further propel lesbians and gay men into party politics. From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, the state was less influential in setting the lesbian and gay movement's agenda and which venues it would emphasize than it had been before. As it looked like same-sex marriage might become lawful in Hawaii, the Hawaii legislature introduced its own DOMA in the form of an amendment to the state constitution which was approved by the voters in 1998.
