Public Hearings about Same-Sex Marriage

This study analyzes public hearings about same-sex marriage to show how the contexts that are established for citizens' and legislators' talk make arguments about the issue being disputed. Situated within the traditions of argument studies and discourse analysis, the article explores different meanings of “context.” The study evidences how two sets of context features created positive (or negative) stances toward the issue of same-sex marriage, and shows that how the controversy was formulated and how participation was designed gave distinct advantages to speakers advocating for (or against) same-sex marriage. The final section draws out implications of these legislative choices for citizen presenters and for the officials themselves as the enactors and guardians of democratic process.

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Playing ‘House of Lords Bingo’: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Hansard Debates on Civil Partnership and Same Sex Marriage

Marriage Rites and Rights ◽

10.5040/9781782259664.ch-011 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Discourse Analysis ◽

Critical Discourse Analysis ◽

Critical Discourse ◽

Same Sex ◽

Same Sex Marriage ◽

Civil Partnership ◽

House Of Lords

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Addressing heteronormativity: Gendered familial appellations as an issue in the same-sex marriage debate in Taiwan

Sexualities ◽

10.1177/1363460719884022 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (7) ◽

pp. 1080-1096

Author(s):

Ting-Fang Chin

Keyword(s):

Social Order ◽

Legal Regulation ◽

Research Data ◽

Same Sex ◽

Same Sex Marriage ◽

Constitutional Level ◽

Public Hearings ◽

Controversial Topic ◽

Legal Arguments ◽

Lgbt Movement

On 24 May 2017, a historical landmark for the LGBT movement was achieved in Taiwan. The courts delivered Interpretation no. 748, which declares that the legal regulation in the Civil Code disallowing two individuals of the same sex to marry is unconstitutional and that the law should therefore be amended within two years. While the legal arguments at the constitutional level seem settled, discussions regarding sexuality, family and tradition triggered by the debate about same-sex marriage are continuing. Drawing on feminist and queer scholarship, I advocate turning the spotlight from the ‘subversive’ homosexual to ‘normative’ heterosexuality. In addition, through the theoretical lens of interactionism on sexuality, this study investigates a quotidian but controversial topic emerging in the debate: gendered familial appellations. Using transcripts of public hearings as research data, I discuss how the practice of employing gendered familial appellations based on the idea of the heterosexual family becomes an issue in the debate. Through an analysis of the matter, I argue that the heteronormative social order embedded in everyday interactions within the context of Taiwan society is revealed. This heteronormativity is not only gendered and hierarchically heterosexual but also ethnocentric in nature.

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Stance, framing, and the construction of reality in Facebook comments about Taiwan’s same-sex marriage bills

Discourse & Society ◽

10.1177/0957926519880035 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 218-234

Author(s):

Ping-Hsuan Wang

Keyword(s):

Discourse Analysis ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Large Scale ◽

Digital Age ◽

The Other ◽

Same Sex ◽

Same Sex Marriage ◽

The Public ◽

Cooperative Interactions ◽

Online Comments

This study proposes an integrated framework to elucidate the process of socially constructing reality by examining how Facebook commenters argue over two same-sex marriage (SSM) bills in Taiwan. Through stance-taking, which involves evaluating, positioning and aligning with others, some commenters contest while others defend SSM by referencing the referendums and the laws. The analysis shows that (dis)alignments facilitate multiple ‘team performances’, that is, cooperative interactions that project competing definitions of the situation, or ‘frames’, within which events are interpreted differently: one bill is criticized as undemocratic while the other contradictory. This bottom-up approach emphasizes participants’ agentive role in shaping the public discourse. The discourse analysis of online comments illustrates reality as constituted by negotiation over taken-for-granted concepts in the digital age, while highlighting the intersubjectivity in large-scale platforms like Facebook and how online commenting is used to (re)frame issues.

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