The gay community lacks "a meaningful degree of political power" and is "politically vulnerable" to anti-gay ballot measures such as California's Proposition 8, a political scientist
testified on Wednesday at a federal court challenge of the marriage ban. As evidence of this lack of clout, Stanford University professor Gary Segura noted that only a half-dozen gay people have been in Congress, and just 1% of state lawmakers - and .5% of local elected officials - are out.
