Christine Quinn's Failure Among Gay Voters 'Re-Defines Identity Politics,' Say New Yorkers

New York mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn's failure to capture the city's gay vote has been the subject of intense debate in the days since the Sept. 10 primary vote.

On Sept. 13, the discussion over whether or not Quinn's hopes to become the city's first gay female mayor were dashed because of a so-called "maturation" among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) voters turned to HuffPost Live.

Joining the discussion was Myisha Cherry, a philosophy professor at John Jay College in New York and an out lesbian, who said Quinn's unsuccessful campaign "re-defined what we think of as identity politics."

Cherry added, "It's not necessary you looking like us or you identifying with us verbally, but do your policies also identify with our self-interests? I think New Yorkers [really] looked at her policies."

Echoing those sentiments was HuffPost Black Voices Editor Danielle Cadet, who pointed to social expectations of minority voters to "automatically identify with the individual who looks like them or acts like them or thinks like them," but noted "that's not necessarily the case."