“For me, being queer or lesbian, nominating a young, inexperienced white gay man is not my priority,” Duke University professor Ara Wilson told The Daily Beast. “The fact that we have not had women in that high office is, to me, much more marked, much more dramatic, and much more moving.”

For some, the feeling is personal. Sue Hagadorn, a former software manager from Michigan, said she felt her gender had always held her back more than her sexual orientation did—particularly in her career. In her 25 years of being out in the workplace, she said, “I never had significant difficulty in the workplace because I was gay. But boy did I ever—like all women—because I was female.”

“I feel that misogyny is a much more serious force in the country, right now especially, than homophobia—particularly homophobia that is directed at people like Pete and me,” she added, referring to white, cisgender queer people.