Abstract
ABSTRACT In the context of Herbert Blumer's seminal work, “Social Problems as Collective Behavior,” symbolic interaction theory is synopsized and then applied to explore the emergence of same-sex marriage as an issue in American legal and legislative systems. Since 1965, a series of key U.S. Supreme Court decisions has more fully defined constitutionally guaranteed rights of privacy, equal protection, and self-determination. Supporters of same-sex marriage have relied on these fundamental rights to argue in state courts for an inclusive definition of marriage, while those in opposition have responded by codifying an exclusively heterosexual definition in state and federal laws and state constitutional amendments. Blumer's five-stage model is applied to examine how the development of the same-sex marriage issue follows and expands on his premise that collective behavior is the product of the dynamic, social process of collective definition.
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