Suchergebnisse

Democracy, discursive frames, and same-sex unions : a cross-national analysis / Ahmed Khanani and Jean C. Robinson -- Constructing policy innovation in Argentina : from gender quotas to same-sex marriage / Adriana Piatti-Crocker -- The Argentine supreme court and the construction of a constitutional protection of sexual minorities / Laura Saldivia -- Policy stability without policy : the battle for same-sex partnership recognition in Brazil / Shawn Schulenberg -- Same-sex relationship equality in Mexico / Genaro Lozano -- Deconstructing the backlash : same-sex marriage litigation and social change in the United States and Canada / Jason Pierceson -- Legal struggles and political resistance : same-sex marriage in Canada and the USA / Nancy Nicol and Miriam Smith -- The distinctive centrality of marriage in the United States / David Rayside -- Conclusion : juristocracy in the Americas? / Jason Pierceson

Abstract: Forty years ago, same-sex couples were not legally accepted in any country. In the last thirty years, however, around 20% of countries have granted some rights to same-sex couples, making them visible to society. While there are still countries that criminalize sexual relations among two consenting adults of the same sex, other countries are allowing same-sex couples to marry and form a family. Countries that have decriminalized sexual relations between individuals of the same sex have shortly thereafter seen a rise in the public debate about formal recognition of same-sex couples. At the centre of this debate is the role of marriage. While some scholars claim that marriage is essentially heterosexual and the basis for societal structure, others consider the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage to be unfair discrimination. Both positions are represented in the reports received for the XVIIIth Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law. Section 1 of this article briefly explains the situation of same-sex couples in countries that have opened marriage to individuals of the same sex. Although there may be a common understanding of what marriage entails, in some countries, same-sex marriage has become a subcategory of marriage, with different rules than heterosexual marriage and restricted access to certain rights. Section 2 offers a summary and analysis of the status of same-sex unions in countries that sent reports to the XVIIIth Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law and have not opened marriage to same-sex couples. Section 3 provides a comparative analysis of the most recurrent arguments used in the processes of recognition and denial of same-sex unions in the countries reviewed. Finally, section 4 draws some conclusions on the state of marriage today.

The purpose of this paper is to present a part of the findings of a study of 82 homosexual couples (40 gay and 42 lesbian couples) living in three states and in city and country areas. The respondents were chosen by means of snowball sampling and the methods of data collection were semi‐standardised questionnaires and interviews. The paper explores the gender identity of homosexual partners, and the power structure of the homosexual units, and examines the types of sexual relationships maintained by homosexual partners. The paper concludes that homosexual couples are diverse in their sex identity, sexual relationships and power structure, and that although in terms of power they are similar to heterosexual couples they are definitely different from them in their sexual attitudes and behaviour and in the perception of their sexual identity. The paper, finally, underlines some implications for social theory and social policy.

In 1985 Australia became one of the first countries in the world to accept same-sex relationships as the basis of migration. Under the compassionate and humanitarian visa category, same-sex applications were assessed through ministerial discretion. In 1991 the "interdependency" category was introduced to recognize nonfamilial migration. Same-sex migration has been hailed as reflecting Australia's progressive sexual law reform and modernizing Australia's immigration history. Since 1991, more than 7,500 permits have been issued. Between 1991 and 2005, gay Asian migrants made up the largest group of interdependency settlers. This article analyzes the development of same-sex migration policy to show how official immigration policy discourses have transformed their visa codifications from humanitarian in 1980, to interdependency in 1991, and family stream same-sex interdependency in 2000. These categories mobilize different politics of intimacy to assimilate the queer migrant into the logics of transnational capital and new nationalism. Thus interracial gay Asian Australian migration functions as a buffer and tension between the nation and its others, government and people, policy and politics.

The last decade has seen dramatic changes in how U.S. society views and recognizes same-sex couples. U.S. Census Bureau employees, Nancy Bates and Theresa J. DeMaio, chronicle recent efforts taken by the Census Bureau to update and improve the measurement and counting of same-sex couples.

This article argues that in the Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Act 2013 applicable in England and Wales should have included non-consummation as grounds for annulment and adultery as a fact of divorce. The absence of these two concepts is representative of a failure by law to fully accept the importance of equality. As such, the legislation will continue to perpetuate formal and substantive inequality resulting in the continued repression of women who marry women. This will have important ramifications for the citizenship of intimacy for such women to which rights, duties and obligations will attach. The legal ability of women who marry women to join the 'marriage club', as it is currently defined, will not queer or radically challenge marriage. Whilst it might have been 'easier' to abandon the concepts of consummation and adultery altogether, only widening the concepts of consummation and adultery to include same sex couples, would offer the potentiality to undertake a queering of marriage. To exclude these concepts risks perpetuating the idea that gay men and lesbians are not sexual beings. Given the heteropatriarchal nature of the concepts of adultery and consummation, this article specifically focuses upon how same sex marriage will affect women who marry women as opposed to what is commonly termed the LGBTQ community.