 There is no group who has been targeted by ballot initiatives more than gays and lesbians The number of ballot initiative contests since the late 1970s is probably at or above 200 Gays and lesbians lose 70% of the contest and a hundred percent of the contents Contests over same-sex marriage and adoption are gays and lesbians underrepresented in political office in the United States At last count only six people have ever served in the House of Representatives Who have been openly gay and only two of those were elected as openly gay? There has never been an openly gay senator or a cabinet member or certainly president and Only about one percent of the state's legislators are gay So how does the lack of participation or representation in government positions undermine the political power of gay men and lesbians? There are members of the United States Senate who in public speeches have compared same-sex marriages to marrying a box turtle Senator Coburn has gone on record saying that the gay and lesbian agenda is the greatest threat to the freedom in the United States today and A senator from South Carolina said that gays and lesbians shouldn't be allowed to teach in the public schools It's difficult to imagine an elected official saying such a thing about really almost any other citizen group Now that's not the fringe. That's the United States senator and as a consequence it legitimizes some of these deeply hostile beliefs