Challenger groups, commercial organizations, and policy enactment: Local lesbian/gay rights ordinances in the U.S. from 1972-2008.

Drawing on theories of social movements and organizations, the authors examine how the expanding presence of commercial organizations and the growing diversity of their forms foster policy change securing rights for a group of challengers. In particular, they suggest that these organizations can operate as bridges and can signal the legitimacy of the group in a community. Empirically, they analyze organizations linked to lesbians/gays and the promulgation of local ordinances banning discrimination, using a data set covering American counties from 1972 to 2008. Using hazard models, they find that the rate of policy enactment increases 1) with greater presence of lesbian/gay commercial organizations, particularly of those linking toward the larger community, and 2) with greater diversity of their organizational forms. Finally, they find evidence that commercial and political organizations are linked in a complex way.