Between Relative Deprivation and Entitlement: An Historical Analysis of the Battle for Same-Sex Marriage in the United States

Abstract

In this chapter, we use key analytical concepts from the justice research literature, such as entitlement, relative deprivation, restorative and procedural justice, to analyze the history of gay and lesbian rights in the United States. We argue that social movements, such as the civil rights movement and the feminist movement inspired the gay and lesbian liberation movement. This movement effectively functioned to change a sense of entitlement among gays and lesbians, from seeing their sexuality as an illness to framing it in liberatory terms. The 1980s governmental neglect of the AIDS epidemic and the lesbian baby boom increased a sense of relative deprivation among same-sex couples in comparison to straight couples. This led to a campaign to legitimize same-sex marriage. The victory of same-sex marriage rights in the United States was based on two types of justifications endorsed by people with different positions on the political map. Judges and people with libertarian orientation justified same-sex marriage based on procedural justice reasoning (government should not police marriage). On the other hand, judges and people with liberal orientation justified same-sex marriage based on restorative justice reasoning (marriage is a human right). Our analysis shows the utility of concepts from the justice research paradigm in explaining the dramatic shift in support for gay and lesbian rights in the United States.