PARENTHOOD AND MARRIAGE WITHIN SAME-SEX COUPLES: AN ANALYSIS USING SURVEY, TIMELINE, AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW DATA

Same-Sex Couples, Families, and Marriage: Embracing and Resisting Heteronormativity

This article focuses on lesbian and gay couples and families and the politics of same-sex marriage. Drawing from the literature on same-sex couples, same-sex marriage, and queer theory’s concept of heteronormativity, we argue that gay and lesbian couples and families both affirm and challenge heterosexual and gendered family forms. First, we review literature that discusses how same-sex relatio...

How Law Shapes Experiences of Parenthood for Same-Sex Couples

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) parents are increasingly common and visible, but they face a number of social and legal barriers in the United States. Using legal consciousness as a theoretical framework, we draw on data from 51 interviews with GLB parents in California and Nebraska to explore how laws impact experiences of parenthood. Specifically, we address how the legal context influences ...

Same sex couples and marriage: negotiating relational landscapes with families and friends

Focusing on the decision to enter into a marriage and/or to conduct a commitment ceremony, this paper explores how same-sex couples negotiate their relationships with both family and friends at the point at which they make decisions about who to invite to their ceremony. The ceremony is argued to be a ‘fateful moment’ at which point lesbians and gay men necessarily take stock of relationships w...

Traditionalism, Pluralism, and Same-Sex Marriage

Marriage as a Message: Same-Sex Couples and the Rhetoric of Accidental Procreation