Conscientious objectors and the marrying kind: rights and rites in Dutch public discourse on marriage registrars with conscientious objections against conducting same-sex weddings

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhen civil marriage in the Netherlands was opened up to same-sex couples in 2001, the Dutch government allowed civil marriage registrars with conscientious objections to opt out. This exemption became controversial in 2007, when it was reemphasized by a new government coalition that comprised two faith-based parties. Through critical discourse analysis this article discusses the construction of religion and homosexuality in public discourses on the weigerambtenaar (lit. ‘refusing civil servant’) between 2007 and 2014. It looks at the effects of the weigerambtenaar as a term, a character and a social problem, and shows how particular oppositions between homosexuals and Christians were created of reinforced. Moreover, it argues that, although the issue was framed in terms of certain secular rights, some contributions also pointed to the importance of (quasi)religious rites in the civil wedding ceremony. Therefore, it also shows how marriage was conceptualized in terms of religion and (homo)sexuality.