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Lesbian and Gay Couples

Lawrence A Kurdek

in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities over the Lifespan: Psychological Perspectives

In an attempt to give accounts of lesbian and gay relationships, two chief research traditions are applied in this chapter and these are: atheoretical descriptions and comparisons of lesbian, gay, ... More

In an attempt to give accounts of lesbian and gay relationships, two chief research traditions are applied in this chapter and these are: atheoretical descriptions and comparisons of lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples on relationship-associated variables, and representation of the tradition using test models of relationships according to social and psychological theories. This chapter examines theory-based findings concerning the satisfaction levels and stability of relationships in lesbian and gay couples, summarizes descriptive reports on lesbian and gay relationships, and tackles issues brought about by the existing findings. Differences among heterosexual couples, lesbian couples, and gay couples in terms of interaction, level of satisfaction, and relationship stability are also explained. Credible research shows that these three characteristics are connected to a person's uniqueness, interdependence, and analytical variables.Less

Adoption

in Same Sex, Different Politics: Success and Failure in the Struggles over Gay Rights

This chapter examines gay adoption rights. Gays and lesbians have parented children resulting from heterosexual marriages for years. What is new over the past two decades is that gays have adopted as ... More

This chapter examines gay adoption rights. Gays and lesbians have parented children resulting from heterosexual marriages for years. What is new over the past two decades is that gays have adopted as couples, and courts and adoption agencies have viewed them increasingly as suitable parents. Many of the children whom same-sex couples adopt have been in the foster care system, were given up for adoption by their biological mothers, or have serious problems that make them difficult to place in permanent homes. But same sex-couples are not just adopting the unwanted offspring of people who are strangers to them. Artificial insemination and surrogate motherhood make it possible for gay and lesbian couples to have children who are biologically related to one of the partners. The partner who is not biologically related to the child can petition the court for a “second parent” adoption that is granted in an increasing number of jurisdictions.Less

Something Borrowed: Trying Marriage On

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines whether same-sex couples have unorthodox ideas about marriage that might lead to a larger cultural shift. Drawing on the reactions of heterosexual family, friends, and other ... More

This chapter examines whether same-sex couples have unorthodox ideas about marriage that might lead to a larger cultural shift. Drawing on the reactions of heterosexual family, friends, and other social institutions to the marriages of Dutch couples, it considers the complex process of cultural adjustment at work in same-sex marriage. To determine whether gay couples will alter marriage in the sense of cultural change, it analyzes the views of heterosexuals who make up and define the larger culture. More specifically, it asks whether heterosexual couples recognize same-sex couples as marriageable and married and compares their perspective with that of same-sex couples. It also discusses some of the factors that Dutch heterosexual and same-sex couples believe make for a successful marriage. The conclusion is that the meaning of marriage has not changed as a result of access for gay couples.Less

Marriage Dissent in the Gay Community

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines how access to marriage might change lesbian and gay identities over time in ways that are stressful for lesbian and gay people. Drawing on interviews with gay couples from the ... More

This chapter examines how access to marriage might change lesbian and gay identities over time in ways that are stressful for lesbian and gay people. Drawing on interviews with gay couples from the Netherlands, it considers the debate over the consequences of same-sex marriage for the gay community itself. In particular, it analyzes the fears and claims of those who oppose gay marriage in order to better understand what is behind the emotions. It also explores whether marriage will lead to the end of gay culture, whether the marriage campaign will impede progress on other important political issues such as health care, and whether marriage will marginalize unmarried lesbians, gays, and bisexuals.Less

The Pace of Change: Are We Moving Too Fast?

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines the possibility of a political link between changes in marriage behavior and beliefs and openness to same-sex couples' demand for recognition. In particular, it considers the ... More

This chapter examines the possibility of a political link between changes in marriage behavior and beliefs and openness to same-sex couples' demand for recognition. In particular, it considers the key factors that predicted changes in laws for the pioneering European countries that recognized same-sex marriage in the 1990s and in a second wave of change since 2000. It also discusses differences between Europe and the United States in the pace and progress of granting legal status to gay couples. After assessing how and why change occurred in Europe with respect to gay marriage, the chapter explores why some countries give legal rights to same-sex couples while others do not. It suggests that changes in marriage law related to same-sex couples in the United States look very similar to changes in European countries.Less

Conclusion: Marriage Under Renovation?

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This book has explored the debate over same-sex marriage in the United States and whether marriage as an institution would be damaged by allowing same-sex couples to marry. Drawing on the experience ... More

This book has explored the debate over same-sex marriage in the United States and whether marriage as an institution would be damaged by allowing same-sex couples to marry. Drawing on the experience of the Netherlands and other European countries, it has argued that marriage poses more of a challenge to gay people than gay people do to marriage. It has cited evidence based on the actions of same-sex couples in the Netherlands suggesting that gay people are interested in marriage for the same reasons that heterosexual couples are, such as the desire to have a child or to affirm and express their commitment to each other and to the world. It has also discussed the arguments against gay marriage as well as the positive gains that marriage can provide to gay couples, along with alternatives to marriage.Less

Recognition of Same-Sex Partnerships in Other European Countries

in Equality for Same-Sex Couples: The Legal Recognition of Gay Partnerships in Europe and the United States

This chapter discusses the recognition of same-sex partnerships in several European countries. Hungary is one of the few countries other than the northern European countries that provides recognition ... More

This chapter discusses the recognition of same-sex partnerships in several European countries. Hungary is one of the few countries other than the northern European countries that provides recognition of same-sex partnerships at the national level. On March 8, 1995, the Hungarian Constitutional Court extended the application of common law marriage to gay and lesbian couples. Thus, whereas in the northern European countries the reform process was a statutory one, the law in Hungary was changed through a judicial act and only afterward was implemented by legislation. In recent years the French legislature and the courts have gradually granted limited benefits to unmarried cohabiting couples. However, it was the French legislature that eventually provided some degree of equality to same-sex couples; the courts were more hesitant and reluctant to do so and limited themselves to expanding the rights of heterosexual cohabitants. In November 2000, Germany enacted a version of a registered partnership act at the federal level. The new act has dramatically affected the status of gay men and lesbians in Germany, a country that until recently lacked any kind of federal recognition of same-sex partnerships.Less

Marital Discord: Understanding the Contested Place of Marriage in the Lesbian and Gay Movement

Mary Bernstein and Verta Taylor

in The Marrying Kind?: Debating Same-Sex Marriage within the Lesbian and Gay Movement

Introduces the volume by setting the chapters squarely in the context of the debate within the movement over the desirability of marriage. Mary Bernstein and Verta Taylor survey the history of ... More

Introduces the volume by setting the chapters squarely in the context of the debate within the movement over the desirability of marriage. Mary Bernstein and Verta Taylor survey the history of same-sex marriage, outline the different positions from which gay and lesbian activists have critiqued marriage, and address the projected consequences of marriage for the gay and lesbian community and movement.Less

Why Marry?: The Value of Marriage

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines why gay couples choose to marry and what we can learn from that process about the meaning of marriage. Drawing on interviews with same-sex couples from the Netherlands, it ... More

This chapter examines why gay couples choose to marry and what we can learn from that process about the meaning of marriage. Drawing on interviews with same-sex couples from the Netherlands, it analyzes the actual personal choices made by couples with regards to marriage. It first considers the views of gay couples about the value of marriage, barriers to marriage, and the processes of accepting or avoiding those barriers. It then addresses questions such as whether gay couples think about marriage and marrying in the same way that heterosexual couples do, or whether same-sex couples really want and need to be able to marry. Finally, it discusses the relevance of the experiences of Dutch gay couples to the debate over same-sex marriage in the United States.Less

Something New: Will Marriage Change Gay People?

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines whether marriage will change lesbian and gay couples, with particular emphasis on the benefits that marriage provide to same-sex couples. In assessing the impact of the right to ... More

This chapter examines whether marriage will change lesbian and gay couples, with particular emphasis on the benefits that marriage provide to same-sex couples. In assessing the impact of the right to marry on lesbian and gay people as individuals and as members of same-sex couples, the chapter draws insights from Europe and the United States. It argues that critics of same-sex marriage underestimate positive gains to the community while overstating potential downsides. More specifically, it suggests that the institutional and social supports provided by marriage often result in good outcomes for individuals. For example, removing formal discrimination by allowing gay marriage will have positive mental health effects on individual lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the effect of marriage on relationships.Less

Strange Bedfellows: Assessing Alternatives to Marriage

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines alternatives to marriage that are available to same-sex couples. It first considers how the debate over same-sex marriage can lead to the slippery equity slope, in which one ... More

This chapter examines alternatives to marriage that are available to same-sex couples. It first considers how the debate over same-sex marriage can lead to the slippery equity slope, in which one equity or fairness comparison generates another. In particular, it discusses comparisons between legally married different-sex couples and same-sex couples who cannot marry, between married and unmarried gay couples, and between married same-sex couples and people who are in nonromantic relationships. It then discusses the so-called political equity trap and whether there is a demand for alternatives to marriage and goes on to argue that policymakers, activists, and even voters must be able to decide on the right way to approach the issue of fairness for same-sex couples. Citing the experience in Europe and in states like Vermont and California, it suggests that alternatives to marriage are useful only if they are transitional statuses on the way to full equality for same-sex couples.Less

The Impact of Gay Marriage on Heterosexuals

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This chapter examines the possible relationship between the marriage choices of gay couples and the decisions about marriage made by heterosexual couples. More specifically, it considers whether ... More

This chapter examines the possible relationship between the marriage choices of gay couples and the decisions about marriage made by heterosexual couples. More specifically, it considers whether same-sex couples have somehow changed heterosexual marriage choices. It first comments on Stanley Kurtz's claim that “gay marriage is both an effect and a cause of the increasing separation between marriage and parenthood” because it accelerates the separation process that had already begun as a result of other causes. It then addresses the argument that the “experiment” with same-sex marriage in Europe was a disaster by analyzing the evidence on what heterosexuals do with respect to marrying and having children. Focusing on measures of heterosexual marriage and divorce behavior, the chapter suggests that nothing much changed as a result of the recognition of same-sex couples. It also shows that there is no correlation between changes in ideas about marriage—mainly a belief that marriage is an outdated institution—and the granting of legal rights to same-sex couples.Less

Introduction: A Different Perspective

M. V. Lee Badgett

in When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

This book explores the public debate over same-sex marriage in the United States that reignited in 2008 in the wake of state supreme court decisions in California and Connecticut to allow gay couples ... More

This book explores the public debate over same-sex marriage in the United States that reignited in 2008 in the wake of state supreme court decisions in California and Connecticut to allow gay couples to marry. Drawing on the actual experiences of gay people in the Netherlands and other European countries, it examines issues surrounding the meaning of marriage as an idea and of marrying as a choice. It also considers both the decisions made by couples and how marriage or registered partnerships of same-sex couples might alter the cultural understanding of marriage as well as the meaning of being gay or lesbian. Finally, it discusses the positive gains that same-sex couples derive from marriage, particularly due to their full inclusion in social and legal institutions.Less

Yes on Proposition 8: The Conservative Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage

Katie Oliviero

in The Marrying Kind?: Debating Same-Sex Marriage within the Lesbian and Gay Movement

Katie Oliviero analyzes the campaign by the Protect Marriage Coalition for Proposition 8 in California. She argues that the opponents of same-sex marriage share with supporters the insistence that ... More

Katie Oliviero analyzes the campaign by the Protect Marriage Coalition for Proposition 8 in California. She argues that the opponents of same-sex marriage share with supporters the insistence that marriage is a public institution, not simply a private act between two people. Ironically, defenders of traditional marriage mimicked the performative tactics used by LGBT activists—including staging public weddings—with the goal of depicting same-sex marriage as a threat to traditional American values.Less

What’s the Matter with Newark?: Race, Class, Marriage Politics, and the Limits of Queer Liberalism

Arlene Stein

in The Marrying Kind?: Debating Same-Sex Marriage within the Lesbian and Gay Movement

Arlene Stein compares two cities—Newark, New Jersey, a low income predominantly Black and Latino/a city, and Maplewood, New Jersey, an ethnically diverse middle-class suburb. She argues that poor ... More

Arlene Stein compares two cities—Newark, New Jersey, a low income predominantly Black and Latino/a city, and Maplewood, New Jersey, an ethnically diverse middle-class suburb. She argues that poor people in the city are less likely to benefit from marriage, while middle-class same-sex couples living in the suburbs find that marriage facilitates coming out in multiple areas of their lives.Less

The Long Journey to Marriage: Same-Sex Marriage, Assimilation, and Resistance in the Heartland

Melanie Heath

in The Marrying Kind?: Debating Same-Sex Marriage within the Lesbian and Gay Movement

Melanie Heath explores the deeply personal stories of Oklahoma couples who traveled to San Francisco to marry in 2004. She finds that rather than using marriage as a way to assimilate into dominant ... More

Melanie Heath explores the deeply personal stories of Oklahoma couples who traveled to San Francisco to marry in 2004. She finds that rather than using marriage as a way to assimilate into dominant heterosexual culture, lesbian and gay couples viewed marrying as a political act to resist conservative backlash and discrimination in an environment that is decidedly not post-gay.Less

Mobilization through Marriage: The San Francisco Wedding Protest

Verta Taylor, Katrina Kimport, Nella Van Dyke, and Ellen Ann Andersen

in The Marrying Kind?: Debating Same-Sex Marriage within the Lesbian and Gay Movement

Verta Taylor, Katrina Kimport, Nella Van Dyke, and Ellen Andersen draw on interviews and a random survey of couples who married in San Francisco in 2004 to examine the impact of marriage equality ... More

Verta Taylor, Katrina Kimport, Nella Van Dyke, and Ellen Andersen draw on interviews and a random survey of couples who married in San Francisco in 2004 to examine the impact of marriage equality activism on activists themselves. They show that the lesbian and gay couples who participated in this event viewed their weddings as intentional contentious public performances and that the solidarity and collective identity created among participants sparked court action and other forms of collective action geared toward policy change. This article, which is the only previously published chapter in the book, won the 2010 Best Paper Award from the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section of the American Sociological Association.Less