Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have divided the LGBT community for its support in the party’s primary.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that both campaigns have attempted to reach out to the community in terms of fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Obama and Clinton – whose positions on gay-rights issues are similar – have formed national and state steering committees focused on gay and lesbian voters and issues. Locally, their supporters have organized grassroots efforts, such as gay-focused phone-banking sessions, fundraising parties and get-out-the-vote drives.

Clinton has tapped into the network of gay support that her husband forged during his presidency and started with a stronger base of gay support, political operatives say. But the momentum that has built for Obama in the general population has resonated in the gay community.

The role of gay Republican voters, who are far fewer in number, has been overshadowed. The GOP candidates have been judged by the conservatives in their party on whether their opposition to gay rights is strong enough. They are in agreement when it comes to supporting the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces and their opposition to state-sanctioned same-sex unions.