Legal Recognition Of Same-sex Marriage Research Articles

Cultural wars and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Southeast Asia: ‘Asian values’, human rights, and the ‘homosexual turn’

Some have argued that we are seeing a ‘homosexual turn’ in Southeast Asia. Decriminalization of sodomy, legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and discussions regarding trans rights have all taken place in the last decade. However, a backlash has emerged as well. Governmental censure of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender issues has escalated, with politicians espousing anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rhetoric and warning against importing ‘cultural wars’ from the West into Asia. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights debate is becoming the new cultural battleground in Asia, with ‘Asian’ and ‘family’ centered values being pitted against ‘Western hegemony’ and ‘moral corruption’. As lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender activists advocate for more recognition, the ‘traditional’ heteronormative family is further institutionalized and valorized. This article aims to interrogate the ‘cultural wars’ in Asia as reflected in the tension between burgeoning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender activism and the enduring privilege of heteronormative families. It will explore this cultural clash through the following three dimensions: (1) rights framing, (2) competition over resources, and (3) political backlash. Ultimately, though, the article argues that as opposed to seeing this tension as a ‘cultural war’, instead we should see this conflict as developmental growing pains, as the region continues to evolve, and nation-states begin to grapple with the burgeoning rights and an irrepressible recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender identities that had been buried under layers of ideologies, from political to moral.

A Pious Paradox

The divergent trajectories in the legalization of same-sex marriage amidst disparate levels of religiosity challenges conventional wisdom about the relationship between religion, state, and society. Contrary to the conventional belief that higher religiosity in countries fosters conservative views and resistance to progressive social reforms, Argentina and Chile present an intriguing anomaly. Utilizing data from the World Values Survey and examining the historical, political, and social contexts of each country, this paper seeks to understand why Argentina, with its higher religiosity and constitutional favoritism towards Catholicism, became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010, while Chile, less religious but more socially conservative, followed much later in 2021. The paper explores the divergent pre and post-dictatorship economic philosophies, governmental structures, sociopolitical landscapes and the distinct roles of the Catholic Church in 21st century Chilean and Argentine politics. It argues that in Argentina, individual political views and a vibrant civil society have developed independently of religious beliefs, fostering a political culture more open to progressive social reform. Conversely, Chile’s entrenched neoliberal policies and the Catholic Church’s sustained influence in Chilean civil society align with more conservative social values, impeding similar progress. These findings challenge the assumption that higher levels of religiosity necessarily correlate with social conservatism and underscore the complex interplay between religion, government, and social values. This research not only illuminates the nuanced dynamics at play in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Latin America but also suggests broader implications for understanding the impact of religiosity on political and social attitudes globally.

Sexual orientation and intra-household specialization before and after the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada

ABSTRACT Using the Canadians Censuses of 2001, 2006, 2016, and the National Household Survey of 2011, this article compares intra-household specialization patterns of married and cohabiting couples by gender composition of households. Household specialization is operationalized in several ways. The first set of measures captures the earnings differentials between spouses, while the second set of measures relies on labour supply. In line with previous studies, we often find a lower level of intra-household specialization for both male-male and female-female couples, compared with their heterosexual counterparts. However, the difference with heterosexuals is much larger for female-female couples. When the most recent dataset is split by income level, it appears that the specialization gaps are largely driven by the more affluent households. We also find considerable heterogeneity in the patterns when the sample is split by generational status.

Queerly Troubling International Law's Vision of “Peace”

Queering international law involves dreaming. It requires stepping outside the framing presumptions of “normal” law to reveal and challenge the heteronormative underpinnings of the hierarchies of power and value that the law sustains. Reclaiming the nomenclature of queer from its history as a term of insult and dehumanization, queer theory interrogates the normative framework that naturalizes and privileges heterosexuality and its binary regime of gender. In its reclamation, “queer” gestures toward affirmative assemblages of new meanings and emancipatory imaginaries. In international law, queer theory has been used in many different ways. For some, queerly troubling the normative involves expanding the existing normal to be more inclusive of queer lives, as can often be seen in the field of international human rights law. As life-giving as inclusion is to those barely existing on the margins, without changing the terms of inclusion this approach risks leaving heteronormativity intact and may even buttress it, as with the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. For others, queering international law involves a more fundamental critique of its regimes of the normal that, together, regulate our relations with each other and the planet. The objects of queer theory's structural critique are the conceptual foundations of international law, which rely on heteronormativity as a fundamental organizing principle that helps to normalize inequality, poverty, exploitation, and violence. One example is the “civilizing mission” which justified colonialism and continues to animate present legal norms. As Teemu Ruskola argues in his seminal queer critique, international legal rhetoric attributed normative masculinity to (Western) sovereign states and cast the “deficient” sovereignty of non-Western states in terms of variously deviant masculinities which, together with their civilizational and racial attributes, justified their “penetration.” My “troubling” of international law's account of peace takes a queer structural approach and then outlines some alternative imaginaries suggested by queer theory and activism.

Measuring the Impact of Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage among Sexual Minority Women

Reductions in structural stigma, such as gaining access to legalized same-sex marriage, is associated with positive psychological and physical health outcomes among sexual minority adults. However, these positive outcomes may be less robust among sexual minority women (SMW; e.g., lesbian, bisexual, queer) than sexual minority men and new measures are needed to develop a more nuanced understanding of the impact of affirming policies on the health and well-being of SMW. This study assessed the psychometric properties of measures developed to assess the psychosocial impacts of legalized same-sex marriage on the lives of SMW. Participants (N = 446) completed an online survey assessing the psychosocial impact of legalized same-sex marriage in five domains: (1) personal impact, (2) stigma-related concerns, (3) couple impact, (4) LGBTQ community impact, and (5) political/social environment. Psychometric properties of the scales were examined using traditional and Rasch analyses. Personal, concerns, couple, and political/social environment scales demonstrated high internal consistency (α > 0.80), and acceptable levels of reliability even when scales reduced to five items each. The LGBTQ community scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency (α = 0.79) and could only be reduced to 9 items. These scales may be useful in future studies of SMW health and well-being.

Police response to same-sex intimate partner violence in the marriage equality era

ABSTRACT Growing research attention is being devoted to intimate partner violence (IPV) involving sexual minority individuals, which is providing insights about prevalence and disclosure patterns. While this work consistently finds that sexual minority IPV victims are reluctant to report to the police, little is known about actual police response to these victims. One unexplored area concerns how growing societal support and legal recognition of same-sex relationships might affect police response to IPV such as arrest. This issue is particularly timely given the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage. The present study examines police response to IPV involving same-sex couples using arrest data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Findings indicate a relationship between legal recognition of same-sex marriage and arrest in IPV cases for both male and female same-sex couples. Implications of these findings for policy and future research are discussed.

Sexual orientation and homeownership in Canada

The homeownership disparities associated with sexual orientation have rarely been investigated. Using the Canadian censuses of 2001, 2006, 2016, and the National Household Survey of 2011, this paper examines how sexual orientation associates with the patterns of homeownership. Given the 2005 legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada, the data allow for comparing sexual minorities with heterosexuals of the same marital status. The analysis shows that prior to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, same-sex households’ homeownership rates were between the rates for married and common-law heterosexuals. Post-legal recognition, rather similar homeownership rates are found for common-law same-sex and common-law different-sex couples. But, married same-sex households, regardless of sex composition, are found largely less likely to own their residence than married heterosexuals. Non-negligible differences are also found regarding home values and the presence of mortgage. Various explanations are explored.

The Australian Marriage Equality Debate: A Qualitative Analysis of the Self-Reported Lived Experience of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ) People

This study explored the lived experiences of a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people during the Australian Government postal survey on legal recognition of same-sex marriage (August to November 2017). Negative impacts of public voting and debates on marriage equality for LGBTIQ people have been previously documented in United States, but less so in other national contexts. Thematic analysis was conducted using written responses of LGBTIQ participants ( N = 5,313) to open-ended questions on a larger survey. Findings revealed that LGBTIQ participants experienced the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey debate as a pervasive and predominantly negative event. Participants reported experiences of prejudice and discrimination and increased fear, anxiety, anger, and depression. They also described the harm and hurt caused by widespread negative images of and messages about LGBTIQ people. Some participants felt their lives were under threat and reported psychological distress, including thoughts of suicide. Although a few participants noted positive support that helped them cope, most participants perceived the debate and vote as a highly stressful, socially fracturing process that threatened interpersonal relationships with family members, workmates, and communities. Many participants described feeling betrayed by the government, country, and Church. These findings extend previous studies that document the public health impacts of political processes that publicly debate the human rights of LGBTIQ individuals.

Understanding Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S.

After the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, some people believed that discrimination based on sexual orientation had ended, just as some people believed that discrimination based on race had ended with Obama’s Presidency in 2008. But the truth of the matter is, localized cohorts among the general population, i.e. older Americans, southerners, African Americans, evangelical Protestants, and Republicans continue to oppose gay marriage quite strongly, despite a majority of Americans supporting same-sex marriage. Whereas some argue that this has to do with factors like education and religiosity, others recognize that support has increased steadily, even among those most opposed, making this phenomenon in public opinion quite unique. As a result, researchers suggest that increases in support may represent a larger, cultural shift within society, which has made Americans more tolerant of sexual minorities, like homosexuals. In fact, in 2013, most Americans believed that the legal recognition of same-sex marriage was “inevitable,” according to polls collected by the Pew Research Center. But does this inevitability actually translate into acceptance of same-sex marriage and sexual minorities more generally?

The hydraulics of constitutional claims: Multiplicity of actors in constitutional interpretation

Who makes constitutional claims? This article argues that on both sides of the Atlantic a multiplicity of constitutional actors outside the courts participate in the elaboration of constitutional principles. I map out these constitutional actors by using as a case study the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. In all four country cases, there are common functional demands for democratic involvement in shaping constitutional meaning. Even though these demands may take various institutional and procedural forms owing to diverse political, institutional, and cultural contexts, I argue that the same overarching hydraulics effect is at play across jurisdictions. When social movements are shut out of one forum, they channel their constitutional claims through different institutional avenues. The four systems represent distinctive models of formal recognition of same-sex marriage, with different actors taking the lead and appearing to have the final say on this contested issue. However, I explain that in all four cases we can detect the voices of multiple actors, including, notably, the people themselves, in a process of legal contestation around the interpretation of fundamental constitutional principles. These voices can take different forms, and the article proposes institutional, historical, political, and cultural factors that may account for this. Thus, the article tells a story of legal development arising from inclusive interpretive communities in the context of a democratic constitutional theory. This framework facilitates dynamic constitutional interpretation that reflects evolving political and social demands instead of top-down delivery of constitutional meaning.

Same-Sex Marriage – A Happy End Story? The Effectiveness of Referendum on Same-Sex Marriage in Europe

Marriage is a successful institution and it makes sense to open it to as many people as possible. The issue of same-sex marriage sparked emotional and political clashes between supporters and opponents. Denial of marriage rights to same-sex people can be seen as a kind of discrimination. This paper explores legal recognition of same-sex marriages. It thereby focuses on the role of Constitutional (Supreme) Courts engaging with the legal arguments over same-sex relationship recognition and marriage. It highlights the effects of policy evolution towards same-sex marriage as well as society’s attitudes. The paper examines the role of referendum held in five European states (Croatia, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia and Romania) devoted to (in general) same-sex marriage. It discusses the results of referendums and voters’ choice.

Same-Sex Marriage – A Happy End Story? The Effectiveness of Referendum on Same-Sex Marriage in Europe

Marriage is a successful institution and it makes sense to open it to as many people as possible. The issue of same-sex marriage sparked emotional and political clashes between supporters and opponents. Denial of marriage rights to same-sex people can be seen as a kind of discrimination. This paper explores legal recognition of same-sex marriages. It thereby focuses on the role of Constitutional (Supreme) Courts engaging with the legal arguments over same-sex relationship recognition and marriage. It highlights the effects of policy evolution towards same-sex marriage as well as society’s attitudes. The paper examines the role of referendum held in five European states (Croatia, Slovakia, Ireland, Slovenia and Romania) devoted to (in general) same-sex marriage. It discusses the results of referendums and voters’ choice.

Religious Liberty, Same-Sex Marriage and Public Accommodations

Against the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, many advocates of religious liberty argue that those who adhere to “traditional” understandings of marriage should not be forced to “recognize” same-sex marriages. This includes exempting individual business owners engaged in commercial activity from anti-discrimination laws. I argue that such exemptions overreach. Equal access to the commercial arena is an essential feature of life in America’s commercial republic, which means that public accommodations should not be given exemptions on religious grounds. Yet this does not require business owners to morally approve of same-sex marriage; nor does it require them to grant same-sex marriages “equal concern and respect.” Rather, it requires simple toleration, which is compatible with moral disapproval. Indeed, I argue that this is the very sort of toleration at the foundation of religious liberty in America. Efforts to grant religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws invite the return of religious conflict and discrimination. Prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations is necessary not only for equal citizenship, but to maintain the regime of toleration that undergirds religious liberty in a pluralistic democracy.

The Role of Social Science Expertise in Same-Sex Marriage Litigation

This article examines the role of social science in US same-sex marriage (SSM) court cases. The existing literature on the role of social science in courts is inconclusive, with studies suggesting social science exerts influence in some but not all areas of law. The literature on social science in SSM litigation is in its formative stage. This article reviews key SSM cases—including the three SSM trials and recent US Supreme Court cases—and describes how litigants and other interested parties invoked social science to address several key points related to legal recognition of SSM. A review of these cases suggests that social science may have exerted influence in SSM litigation because of the large volume of available evidence, the high level of scientific consensus on key issues, and contextual factors such as shifts in public opinion.

Three critical questions for future research on lesbian relationships

ABSTRACTIn this article I discuss three questions that should be priorities for future research on lesbian love and relationships. The first question concerns the very definition of “lesbian relationship,” given how many women may be engaged in same-sex relationships without identifying as lesbian. The second question concerns the potential influence of childhood neglect and abuse on adult women's same-sex relationships, a topic that has important implications for both psychological well-being and relationship functioning. The third question concerns the potential downsides of legal marriage for women's same-sex relationships, a topic that is particularly important in light of the newfound legal recognition of same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Although there are many understudied questions in the domain of women's same-sex relationships, research on these three questions has particularly strong potential to advance our understanding of lesbian love and relationships in important ways.

The march toward marriage equality: Reexamining the diffusion of same-sex marriage among states

The issue of same-sex marriage and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality has received considerable attention from policy scholars. This is unsurprising given the issue is one of the defining social policy battles of the last decade. State governments at the forefront of this battle have responded by proposing a multitude of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related policies. In this study, we comparatively assess the diffusion of two of these policies across US states: the legal recognition of same-sex marriages and state constitutional amendments defining marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman. While previous studies have examined the diffusion of same-sex marriage bans across states, none have offered a comparative examination of how both sides of this contentious issue have advanced their policy preferences alongside each other. Using event history analysis, we analyze a unique set of covariates to test two diffusion hypotheses: learning and imitation. We find that for both policies, policy learning is the primary mechanism occurring, suggesting that policymakers learn from one another for the same policy area, even if the policies have different motives or objectives. However, the effect of learning is more prominent for anti-gay policies, suggesting there are differences between policies.

Governing Through Normality: Law and the Force of Sameness

This article claims that the existence of social groups hinges on the production of sameness, which allows distinguishing members from non-members. Sameness is described as a shared set of standards whereby social subjects can provide mutually understandable accounts of themselves, their practical activities and their environment. The author argues that sameness is not an intrinsic property of groups but is produced within the very practices that it is meant to support. By building on a Wittgensteinian interpretation of meanings and rules, he illustrates how sameness is an intrinsic feature of the process through which the members of a practice construct the latter by issuing its rules and establishing roles. At the same time, the article draws on Carl Schmitt’s institutional thinking, elaborated in the 1930s, and particularly his analysis of the relevance of normality to the existence of law. In doing so, the author claims that sameness and normality are key, co-original aspects of there being an effective legal order. Against this analytical background, the article goes on to claim that the legal orders typical of liberal regimes hold sway on social practices through the protection of normality and the revision of its boundaries as new challenges arise. As a case in point, the author examines the hypothesis that today’s push for legal recognition of same-sex marriage could be interpreted as an immunity response of liberal regimes to homosexual sexualities’ former critique of traditional models of kinship.

Comment on “The Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Laws on Different-Sex Marriage: Evidence From the Netherlands”

In the recent Demography article titled "The Effect of Same-Sex Marriage Laws on Different-Sex Marriage: Evidence From the Netherlands," Trandafir attempted to answer the question, Are rates of opposite sex marriage affected by legal recognition of same-sex marriages? The results of his approach to statistical inference-looking for evidence of a difference in rates of opposite-sex marriage-provide an absence of evidence of such effects. However, the validity of his conclusion of no causal relationship between same-sex marriage laws and rates of opposite-sex marriage is threatened by the fact that Trandafir did not also look for equivalence in rates of opposite-sex marriage in order to provide evidence of an absence of such an effect. Equivalence tests in combination with difference tests are introduced and presented in this article as a more valid inferential approach to the substantive question Trandafir attempted to answer.

Quod Non Est in Actis Non Est in Mundo: Legal Words, Unspeakability and the Same-Sex Marriage Issue

This article centres on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage with a view to exploring the issue of unspeakability; that is, the condition whereby some questions cannot be articulated because of a lack of words. More specifically, the article will explore what happens to those social practices that are not given legal speakability and thereby legal recognition/protection. To this end, I first focus on how words are produced in the sphere of everyday life and their dependence on the existence of a widespread normality. I then discuss how the law sees to the preservation and the reproduction of normality by providing a set of categories which are made available to law-abiders to settle disputes when they arise. In doing so, I elucidate the twofold role played by law as both a selective and a creative device. To cast some light on the particular way law operates, I discuss an important decision by the Italian Constitutional Court in 2010, which provides a telling example of how legal officials are able to seal off the set of legal categories and to leave some issues in the sphere of the unspeakable. I then unearth a paradox: while unspeakability reveals a condition of powerlessness, the acquisition of speakability could bring about even harsher exclusionary effects. I conclude by arguing that the entry into the sphere of official law is always a Janus-faced achievement, but can play as an effective instrument of critique.

Quod Non Est in Actis Non Est in Mundo: Legal Words, Unspeakability and the Same-Sex Marriage Issue

This article centers on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage with a view to exploring the issue of unspeakability; that is, the condition whereby some questions cannot be articulated because of a lack of words. More specifically, the article will explore what happens to those social practices that are not given legal speakability and thereby legal recognition/protection. To this end, I first focus on how words are produced in the sphere of everyday life and their dependence on the existence of a widespread normality. I then discuss how the law sees to the preservation and the reproduction of normality by providing a set of categories which are made available to law-abiders to settle disputes when they arise. In doing so, I elucidate the twofold role played by law as both a selective and a creative device. To cast some light on the particular way law operates, I discuss an important decision by the Italian Constitutional Court in 2010, which provides a telling example of how legal officials are able to seal off the set of legal categories and to leave some issues in the sphere of the unspeakable. I then unearth a paradox: while unspeakability reveals a condition of powerlessness, the acquisition of speakability could bring about even harsher exclusionary effects. I conclude by arguing that the entry into the sphere of official law is always a Janus-faced achievement, but can play as an effective instrument of critique.