Producing a Sense of Linked Fate

2020 ◽  
pp. 68-82
Author(s):  
Abigail C. Saguy
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
Linked Fate ◽  
Lgbtq Rights

This chapter focuses on Mormon fundamentalist polygamists. Unlike the groups featured in previous chapters, Mormon fundamentalist polygamists are socially disconnected from the LGBTQ+ rights movement, socially conservative, and disapproving of homosexuality. Yet, by talking of coming out as polygamist, they liken their “lifestyle” to that of gay men and lesbians. This chapter argues that this has been facilitated by talk, among powerful people and institutions, of polygamy and same-sex marriage as analogous—leading many Mormon fundamentalist polygamists to support the legalization of same-sex marriage to create a legal pathway for polygamy. For a small minority of Mormon fundamentalist polygamists, a sense of linked fate with members of sexual minorities seems also to be generating some degree of solidarity with members of sexual minorities. This chapter examines how Mormon fundamentalist polygamists distance themselves from the most notorious polygamist sects, while insisting that polygamy can help women balance work and family.

scholarly journals Sexual identities and reproductive orientations: Coming out as wanting (or not wanting) to have children

Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 276-294
Author(s):  
Robert Pralat
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Binary Logic ◽  
Sexual Identities ◽  
Life Trajectories ◽  
Lesbian Motherhood ◽  
The Future

In the context of growing visibility, recognition and acceptance of lesbian motherhood and gay fatherhood in countries such as Britain, it is important to ask how younger generations of sexual minorities approach the possibility of becoming a parent. Drawing on interviews with lesbians and gay men who do not have children but may have them in the future, I explore how people become aware that having children is an option. By attending to how this consciousness manifests in conversations and how conversations shape the consciousness, I illuminate specific dynamics that raising the topic of parenthood creates in intimate interactions. My data show that it is often unclear to men and women who form same-sex relationships whether they are socially expected to have children. I argue that this ambiguity requires a kind of ‘coming out’ through which feelings about parenthood are made explicit. Using the concept of coming out, I ask: What if we were to think of people in terms of their ‘reproductive orientations’ rather than sexual identities? I suggest that, similar to expressing sexual identities, articulating reproductive orientations involves aligning with particular life trajectories based on binary logic. However, with ambiguous expectations about parenthood, neither having children nor remaining childfree is explicitly normative. As such, unlike coming out as lesbian or gay, which transgresses norms surrounding sexuality, coming out as wanting or not wanting to have children challenges normativity itself. I reflect on how this ‘normative challenge’ makes it possible to imagine parenthood and ‘childfreedom’ as intimacies of equal value.

Why They Did Not Identify as Gay or Bisexual

2021 ◽  
pp. 126-140
Author(s):  
Tony Silva
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Family Formation ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Legal Equality

The men interviewed identified as straight largely because of their embeddedness in straight culture and desire to remain a part of a socially dominant group. Most felt that gay men were too feminine, urban, or incompatible with conventional marriage or family formation. Nonetheless, a majority supported equal legal rights, including same-sex marriage. Yet many also expressed various types and degrees of homophobia, some subtle and some more obvious. In this sense the men interviewed were like the majority of straight people, who support many forms of legal equality but not always informal rights. The men interviewed identified as straight not only because of homophobia, any more than most straight men identify as straight only because of homophobia. Homophobia was only one of many reasons for their straight identification. Relatedly, most of the men interviewed knew that bisexuality was a possible identity but did not adopt that identity for themselves in large part for three reasons. First, they considered it incompatible with having a woman partner. Second, they had no interest in romantically partnering with a man. And third, they thought identifying as bisexual would threaten their other relationships.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Sandra Patton-Imani
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Des Moines ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Queer Citizenship

I begin this book with the story of my spouse and I essentially being kicked out of the Des Moines YMCA for being lesbians. I use this narrative to introduce the ways relationships between social and legal definitions of “legitimate” family are used to regulate access to social rights and resources. The most pervasive stories in public dialogues about families headed by lesbians and gay men at the turn of the twenty-first century suggest that legalizing same-sex marriage should be either the panacea for all the constitutional vulnerabilities of queer citizenship, or the downfall of civilization due to the crumbling of the institution of marriage. I argue that the construction of lesbian-headed families should be explored in the context of other arenas of social policy, including adoption, immigration, and welfare. I discuss my family’s location in this research.

Gender Matters in Tsai Ing-wen’s First Term: The First Woman President, the Cabinet Appointments, and Same-Sex Marriage in Taiwan

2021 ◽  
pp. 002190962110055
Author(s):  
Young-Im Lee
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Lgbtq Rights ◽  
Elite Interviews

Tsai Ing-wen was elected as the first woman president of Taiwan in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Did the prospect of “the first woman president” shape the expectations of the changes she may bring about regarding women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) rights? Analyzing 35 in-depth elite interviews, this paper demonstrates Tsai’s campaign did not benefit much from “the first woman” slogan, her cabinet included fewer women than her predecessors’, and she could not proactively push for marriage equality after the elections. Tsai’s case illuminates the constraints women leaders face in promoting representation for marginalized groups.

scholarly journals International relations: discourse and dissonance of LGBT perception

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-104
Author(s):  
Asiyat Botasheva
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Review Study ◽  
Gays And Lesbians

International relations shape the image of the modern world and its structure, which at this stage is sometimes characterized by very unique networks of human relationships, a variety of features of the development of peoples. In this regard, the attitude of international organizations towards sexual minorities, organizations that participate in the recognition or denial of gays and lesbians, and same-sex married couples is very remarkable. This review study proves that there is some dissonance in international relations caused by the fact that not all international organizations and States respond equally to the Declaration of the rights of representatives of sexual minorities that protect the institution of LGBT and same-sex marriage.

scholarly journals Young Generation’s Perceptions of Same-Sex Sexuality and Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage in South Korea

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110318
Author(s):  
Sungeun Yang
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Collection Data ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach

It is important to pay attention to the rights of lesbians and gay men within the global context of antidiscrimination. This study focused on the young generation’s perceptions of same-sex sexuality and their attitudes toward same-sex marriage with revisiting Korean Confucianism as a conceptual framework. A total of 110 college students residing in the Seoul metropolitan areas of South Korea participated in this study. The study used participant-generated imagery and face-to-face interviews for data collection. Data were examined using a hybrid approach of thematic analysis that relied on deductive and inductive coding. The results highlighted young Koreans’ conflicting perceptions of same-sex sexuality and ambivalent attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Young Koreans perceived lesbians and gay men as marginalized in spite of democratic transition and social movements in South Korea. They showed tolerance to same-sex sexuality under a human rights–based approach. At the same time, the results revealed that they still held on to traditional Korean Confucianism. There are young Koreans opposing same-sex marriage because of their rationale of Confucian heteronormativity, value of social order within collectivism, and belief of familism. The results suggest a reinterpretation of the young generation’s ambivalence regarding same-sex sexuality in the light of Confucian-family-oriented collectivism in South Korea.

scholarly journals Association between same-sex marriage introduction and attitudes towards homosexuality in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
D Hagen ◽  
E Goldmann
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Determinant ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Marriage Laws

Abstract Background Existing research suggests a positive relationship between the introduction of same-sex marriage and country-level acceptance of homosexuality across Europe in the first decade of the 21st century. Between 2010 and 2018, another 8 countries in Europe introduced same-sex marriage. Given the well-established association between greater social acceptance of sexual minorities and LGBT health, it is important to continue to monitor the effect of same-sex marriage policies on public attitudes. Methods Using data from waves 1 through 9 of the European Social Survey (ESS), the lagged association between same-sex marriage and acceptance of homosexuality in the subsequent wave was analysed for 12 European countries that introduced same-sex marriage between 2002 and 2018. Acceptance of sexual minorities was assessed using the statement, “Gay men and lesbians should be free to live their own life as they wish”, which was dichotomised into two groups: “agree strongly” or “agree” vs. “neither agree nor disagree”, “disagree”, or “disagree strongly”. The association between same-sex marriage laws and acceptance was analysed in mixed-effects logistic regression models adjusting for country-level and individual-level confounders and survey year. Results On the country level, acceptance of homosexuality ranged from 61% in Portugal in 2006 to 96% in Iceland in 2016. Based on the total sample of 171,683 observations, acceptance increased from 77% in 2002 to 88% in 2018. Preliminary analyses indicate that existence of same-sex marriage at the time of data collection was associated with 24% increased odds of acceptance of homosexuality in fully adjusted models (95% CI: 1.05-1.48). Conclusions This study provides further evidence of an association between same-sex marriage laws and public acceptance of homosexuality. Additional research will be needed in order to further investigate this relationship beyond Western Europe and in relation to sexual minority health and well-being. Key messages For 12 European countries, evidence of an association between the introduction of same-sex marriage between 2002 and 2018, and subsequent accepting public attitudes towards homosexuality was found. Given their role as a key social determinant of health, further research on the association between social norms accepting of sexual minority populations and inclusive social policies is warranted.

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