--- On Tue, 24/5/11, George Herbert george.herbert@gmail.com wrote:
I don't know that it's been reviewed in analytical terms at that level. It's so offensive on one level that academics and political commentators seem to just shy away from it rather than addressing the rather deep "Hey, what does this say about society/politics/etc".
There is some academic analysis of this sort in
Value war: public opinion and the politics of gay rights By Paul Ryan Brewer
Pages 80ff, especially the chapter "The rewards and risks of signaling" starting on page 81 (covering the rewards and risks for political actors signaling their stance on gay issues to the electorate). Unfortunately, I can't see the relevant page in Google Books, and amazon has no preview.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=U34pJTdF-VcC&pg=PA81&dq=%22The+Re...
The work is actually cited in the article, but only for the "frothy mixture" quote.
Andreas