A core argument of this book is that understanding same-sex marriages and their social and political significance requires an understanding of the developments discussed so far in this chapter, combined with an exploration of the experiences of same-sex marriages on the ground. By taking these together we aim to generate insights into same-sex marriage as […]

Same-sex marriage and the recent proliferation of marriage-like arrange­ments, along with continuing struggles for and against these, are often seen as representing a critical moment in the history of marriage as an institution (Oerton, 2008). While this can be viewed in negative, positive and ambivalent ways, it cannot be understood in isolation from longer-term and […]

Modern histories of same-sex relationships and heterosexual marriage are deeply intertwined. Historically, same-sex relationships have been construed as the ‘other’ of heterosexual ones, and since the nineteenth century homosexual relationships have been intensively defined, out­lawed and pathologised as unnatural, unhealthy and abnormal. As Foucault (1979) observed, the discursive invention of homosexuality as socially and personally […]

Among many of those whose sexual identities were formed through an active engagement with lesbian, feminist, gay, bisexual and queer critical communities and cultures, there is likely to be an enduring reluctance to embrace marriage as a way of understanding or recognis­ing their relationships (cf. Adam, 2004). This is linked to how such com­munities and […]

In October 2010, under the headline ‘Couples bid to overturn gay marriage law’ (24/10/2010: 25), The Observer newspaper reported on a campaign in Britain to overturn the restrictions that prevent same-sex couples from being formally married and heterosexual couples from entering into civil partnerships. The report quoted the campaign’s coordinator, the Outrage! activist Peter Thatchell, […]

In this chapter we consider some of the international, socio-historical and political contexts that are the backdrop to new generational claims about the ordinariness of same-sex relationships and marriages. Our aim is to situate these claims, and the relating practices they involve, in terms of developments in heterosexual and non-heterosexual cultures, in terms of political […]

This book is concerned above all with how new generations of same-sex couples have responded to the opportunity to have their relationships legally recognised by creating meaningful ‘marriages’. Each chapter situates and explores different dimensions of the process of interweav­ing the ‘given’ and the ‘made’ that is the heart of creating same-sex marriages. Throughout, we […]

Despite international interest, and the wealth of literature debating for­malised same-sex relationships, relatively few detailed empirical studies of the actual experience of these relationships have been published (but see Badgett, 2009; Bates Deakin, 2006). This book is based on a qualitative study that sought to explore formalised same-sex relation­ships from the perspective of life on […]

Despite the ways in which the media represented the couple discussed at the beginning of this chapter, as being at the vanguard of post­traditional secular lifestyles, the publicising of their personal story about being in a marriage-like relationship had its beginnings in an commonplace experience that would raise few eyebrows: going on holiday. Reflecting on […]

This book analyses younger same-sex partners’ accounts of their for­malised relationships. It considers couple and individual narratives of being formally partnered or ‘married’, and situates these with respect to partners’ relational biographies, the meaning and practices they attach to money and finances, sexual and intimate commitments and to being coupled. These are important new stories […]