„DET KRÆVER NU ENGANG EN MAND OG EN KVINDE“: Køn, seksualitet og slægtskab i den politiske debat om homoseksuelles forældreegnethed

Abstract

In Denmark same sex parenthood is a highly controversial topic. Taking this controversy
 as a point of departure the article discusses kinship as a negotiated and politicised
 field. While homosexual men are increasingly becoming fathers and parents, their
 fatherhood is still surrounded with silence in political debates, which focus mainly on
 lesbian motherhood. By exploring how notions of kinship, gender and sexuality are
 intersected in the political debates regarding homosexuals’ access to parenthood, the
 article explores this apparent invisibility of homosexual fathers. The political debates
 provide a window on the contemporary negotiation of kinship ties and obligations, and
 touch upon the boundaries of “the family”. The article concludes that the silence
 surrounding homosexual fathers is a question of both their (homo)sexuality and their
 gender. Both homosexual men and women have difficulties in access to parenthood
 and are excluded from the definition of family contained in Danish law, because they
 cannot uphold the notion of kinship as symbolized by heterosexual intercourse. In
 addition the wishes of fatherhood held by gay men are – because of their being men –
 ignored since parenthood in a Danish context still is synonymous with motherhood.