Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Gay marriages'

Thesis advisor: William A. Gamson
In 2006, Mariane Valverde announced the birth of what she called, “a new type in the history of sexuality” (155), the Respectable Same-Sex Couple. This work analyzes newspaper coverage of same-sex couples during the Massachusetts campaign for marriage equality to explore the content of and contours around that new socio-sexual category. The processes involved in the incorporation of lesbians and gay men into the governing relations of American society are used to explain the development of this type, and its replacement of the pathological Homosexual. The manufacture of respectability by movement activists is explored via the selection of “public face couples” as a framing strategy that links the lives of these couples to marriage itself and the hardships they suffer due to their inability to marry. The respectability of these couples and their incorporation as economic citizens is also linked to representations of professional status, upward mobility, economic success, and the creation of identity-based markets through entrepreneurial and consumptive practices. Boundaries around this respectability are evident in stories of failure, either to remain together as couples or to act in accordance with marital normative standards, while the boundaries between Heterosexuality and Homosexuality, and among and between same-sex and different-sex couples, are also being re-drawn as marriage becomes available. The broader historical transformation of lesbian and gay life is discusses in the development of new life-scripts becoming available. While these transformations have led to greater possibilities for the living of gay and lesbian lives, the absorption of these lives into governing relations also erases and expels other queer life practices and reinforces other forms of social inequality and injustice
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Sociology

In this study, I explored the impact legal marriage has had on gay men in legally sanctioned same-sex marriages. Participants included five gay men who were legally married in Massachusetts. Each participant was interviewed three times; twice using a semi-structured interview guide developed for this study plus a feedback session for clarification and validity check. Narrative information was coded for emergent categories and themes using a constructivist-interpretivist phenomenological approach. I sought to explore how gay men perceive their relationships after being able to marry, the extent to which being married has impacted how they view themselves and their relationships, as well as how the availability of legal marriage has affected social acceptance and community support. Three categories emerged from coded narrative data: (a) Entering Marriage, which included themes of how participants defined marriage, as well as processes that led them to marry; (b) Mechanics and Meaning-Making in Marriage, which included themes relating to changes participants noticed in themselves since being married, as well as differences in how aspects of marriage such as division of labor, finance, intimacy, and family expansion were navigated; and (c) Marriage in Context, which included themes relating to community, social, and political influences on participants’ marriages. The findings revealed that legal marriage has had a positive impact for these five men across intrapsychic, interpersonal, and social domains, though each participant experienced these impacts differently. I hope the information gathered will help contextualize the issue of gay male marriage equality reflected in real life experience as the field of psychology continues to expand the notions of healthy family relationships and their constellations.

Due to social stigma, millions of sexual minorities have concealed their true sexual identities by entering into heterosexual relationships and marriages. Eventually, some transition to same-sex relationships and are able to live authentic lives. This latter group had identified as genuinely heterosexual, never questioning their sexuality until a particular time in their lives when same-sex desires spontaneously appeared. The experiences of transitioning from heterosexual to same-sex partners are not well known, particularly for women who have been legally married to both men and women. Diamond's dynamical systems theory for same-sex sexuality and McCarn and Fassinger's lesbian identity formation model provided the theoretical framework for this qualitative narrative study investigating the life stories of 15 female participants recruited from social media, who had experienced a transition from heterosexual marriage to same-sex marriage. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and data were coded and analyzed to identify emergent categories. The findings revealed that the women experienced shifts in private and public sexual identities over time. Despite external obstacles and personal concerns in transitioning from heterosexual to same-sex relationships, all the women had more positive experiences in their same-sex marriages than they did in their heterosexual marriages. Understanding these women's life stories will allow mental health professionals to better understand and address the needs of this population in more clinical and applied settings. This study will also help educate the general public about women who experience shifts in the desired gender of their relationship.

Cooperative marriage is a heterosexual marriage negotiated and performed by a lala (a woman with same-sex desire) and a gay man. Building on growing debates on cooperative marriage within the tongzhi community and on intensifying media and academic attention, this thesis presents an empirical investigation of how gay men and lalas understand their experiences while in cooperative marriage. The study is based on in-depth interviews, participant observation and focus group interviews of twenty-two gay men and lalas in cooperative marriage distributed across five cities in China: Beijing, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Foshan. Among the questions addressed are: Why do gay men and lalas opt for this particular type of marriage? What are the lived experiences of sexual minorities facing cultural and institutional discrimination in China? What are the main living strategies and styles they adopt to cope with such discrimination? The study also explores different ways of relating to others and some novel intimate practices emerging. It is shown that, in general, these are not in harmony with the heteronormative values that are dominating society today. The new ways and practices are therefore challenging criticism from liberal rights activists, particularly with regard to issues such as coming out. I identify four types of orientations of gay men and lalas towards cooperative marriage: familial, individual, pragmatic, and idealistic. These reveal how gay men and lalas understand their relations to other main players in their lives and strategize accordingly. Among the characteristics playing key roles in their decision making are gender, being the single child of the family and co-residence with the parents in the same city (local vs. non-local). It is shown that the lives of gay men and lalas in cooperative marriage are being complicated by the need to negotiate multiple relationships, e.g., with the marital partner, the same-sex partner, the marital partner’s partner, the natal family, the in-laws, and the gay community around. I also theorize on the major types of politics of intimate relationships engaged in by gay men and lalas as they craft their living spaces while in cooperative marriage. Finally, I demonstrate that cooperative marriage has led to a new sub-cultural tongzhi movement where gay men and lalas build on the rapport they have developed with each other; e.g., they share information and experiences while participating in semi-open public discussions and matchmaking events. This is leading to emergent types of new ethics within the community which have critically challenged the stereo types and dominant narratives on tongzhi strategizing.
published_or_final_version
Social Work and Social Administration
Master
Master of Philosophy

This research aims to answer a simple question: Why are some individuals, and some states, more willing to extend protections to same-sex couples than are others? Drawing from the literature, I perform a battery of quantitative tests on variables most commonly associated with gay rights and gay marriage policy development: liberalism, education, age, religiosity, authoritarianism, tolerance, urbanization, and moral traditionalism. While I find that all of these variables have a relationship with gay rights and gay marriage opinion, I argue that those associated with religiosity have the strongest pull. However, religiosity does not act alone; moral traditionalism, age, and ideology play particularly robust roles as well. In conclusion, I contend that the data show a strong likelihood for the continued liberalization of gay rights and gay marriage policy into the foreseeable future.
M.A.
Department of Political Science
Health and Public Affairs
Political Science MA

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006.
Title from title screen. Andrew Altman, committee chair; William Edmundson, George Rainbolt, committee members. Electronic text (44 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 19, 2007. Includes bibliographical references.

The first chapter of this thesis examines the factors that assist and impede disclosure of homosexuality. Factors have been divided into intrapersonal, interpersonal and societal/environmental categories for convenience of reporting. However, it is recognised that these factors do not exist in isolation of each other. The second chapter investigates the experience of gay fathers who have disclosed their homosexuality to their children. Analysis of interviews carried out with gay fathers suggests a model of disclosure where fathers achieve a realisation of their homosexuality followed by a desire to be honest about it. Fathers then disclosed their sexuality to their children. The effects on the child, on the father and on the father/child relationship are discussed. The impact of supportive others who are important in the lives of the father and children seem to be paramount to a successful outcome. Clinical implications of this study are discussed along with the study’s limitations and ideas for future research. The third chapter examines the experience of a gay man who became a father via donor insemination. Salient factors related to this method of fathering, being gay, and being later contacted by the child are discussed. The final chapter contains the authors’ reflections on a personal experience that impeded disclosure of his own homosexuality. The author entered reparative therapy holding the belief that he did not want to be gay. Following therapy failure, the author reached a position of self acceptance. Implications for clinicians are discussed.

On April 26, 2000, Governor Howard Dean of the State of Vermont signed into law the Civil Union bill. The first of its kind in the United States, it extended the rights of marriage to same-sex couples. Holding that the rights of homosexual couples flowed from the Common Benefits clause of the State Constitution, this bill was the result of a contentious judicial and legislative process. Preceding as it did the state and national election contests later in the year, the Civil Union law generated anger, discord, elation and fear. In the year following its passage, Vermonters came to terms with this bill in many ways. This study considers the antecedents and the consequences of this bill.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).

Background/Purpose: This study aims to better understand attitude formation since attitudes influence behavior. I explore opinion on gay marriage, the gender gap in regard to this issue, and trends in attitudes toward gay marriage. I also explore how gender intersects with other identities in forming these attitudes so that we can better understand the opinions of men and women. Methods: I start by using simple percentages for men's and women's attitudes to determine if there is a gender gap and examine whether these gender differences exist within different subgroups. From there, I use multivariate equations to discover reasons for these gender gaps. Results and conclusions: People's attitudes in support of gay marriage versus support for civil unions or no legal recognition are shaped by gender and a host of other demographic traits and attitudes. A small but consistent gender gap exists, with women being 6 percentage points more likely to support gay marriage, while men fall slightly more often in the other two categories. I found evidence of intersectionalities between gender and other demographic traits. One intersectionality exists between gender, race and religiosity. Black women's opinions on gay marriage are split, falling both in greater support for gay marriage and greater opposition. The religiosity of black women accounts for this split. I also found evidence of intersectionality with regards to education, but here it appears that it is men's attitudes that are shaped by this factor. As education levels increase, the gender gap in support of gay marriage disappears as men's attitudes become more similar to that of women.

Thesis advisor: Donald Hafner
There is perhaps no issue more controversial in the so-called American culture war than that of gay marriage. In the last five years, four states have legalized same-sex marriages and several more appear poised to follow suit. This paper creates an analytical framework with which to evaluate the chances of successful gay marriage initiatives in any given state. Demographics, political institutions, and state-specific variables make up the three parts of the framework, which is then applied to three case studies in which gay marriage has already been addressed: Massachusetts, Vermont, and California. A fourth case, Maine, serves as a prediction state to test the validity of the framework. The paper’s conclusions indicate that, in the current political and cultural domain, there is a set of factors that tend to promote the legalization of gay marriage. The demographics of a population need to be such that they qualify as a “tolerant citizenry,” people who are hesitatingly accepting of gay marriage and can be persuaded to support that legalization. On the political side, a positive evaluation of gay marriage by the state supreme court that then passes on responsibility to the state legislature is the most conducive to legalization. The court provides the constitutional and legal grounds for gay marriage, while the legislature acts as an intermediary between the justices and the wider population. Finally, states in which the constitutions are difficult to amend, and which amendment procedures are controlled by the legislature, are the most likely to legalize gay marriage. The application of the framework to the three case studies illustrates this complex process
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2009
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science Honors Program
Discipline: Political Science

The Waite-Gallagher Marriage Benefit Theory (2000) articulates the premise of greater financial advantage, health benefits, and social well-being for married couples, not shared by cohabitating or singles. This benefit was not generalizable to same-sex couples or African-American. The significance of the current study is the use of a large dataset (The U. S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey) to explore if there is an association between type of legal status of marital relationship and financial advantage and health benefits for same-sex couples. Minority stress explains the systematic exclusion of same-sex couples from the entitlements of citizenship. The wage disadvantage theory of minority groups counters Waite and Gallagher and sheds light on a problem of comparison related to a heterosexual, Caucasian sample. Combining insights from a historical, political, economic, and social perspective, with a large secondary dataset from the 2010 American Community Survey 1-year tabulation, this quantitative dissertation seeks to extend the Waite-Gallagher theory. The findings suggest support for the Waite-Gallagher marriage benefit theory i.e. marriage does matter for lesbian and gay males. The principal conclusion is the existence of a statistically significant relationship between the state context (legal recognition of marriage vs. non-recognition) and financial advantage and health benefits when using a large secondary data set.

This thesis explores the working realities of gay police officers and performers in relation to ‘gay-friendly’/‘gay-hostile’ worksites and embodied sexual identity, developing an understanding of the meanings gay workers attach to their working lives by mobilising conceptual resources primarily from sociology. Deep seated assumptions pervade current perceptions regarding gay male sexuality and certain occupations. The idea is that there are gay industries like fashion, nursing and the performing arts. In contrast, occupations such as the police and the armed forces are often seen as homophobic, yet a dearth of academic research investigates the lived experiences of gay men located within perceived ‘gay friendly’ or ‘gay hostile’ worksites. Acknowledging this as a missed opportunity for developing empirical insight, I bring to the fore the work realities of some of these overlooked people. Taking the performing arts as an example of a ‘gay-friendly’ occupation, the police as an example of a ‘gay-hostile’ occupation, and drawing on in-depth interview data with 20 gay performers/police officers, I show that the perspectives and experiences of these men allow us to nuance existing research on how LGB employees understand, value and experience ‘gay-friendly’ workplaces, an emerging construct in the organisation studies literature. Focusing on the significance of embodied, sexual identity for the performance of the occupational roles of interest allows this study to consider the relationship between gender and sexuality at work. Literature on the gendered nature of work along with the promising literature on (homo)sexuality in the workplace have proceeded relatively separately, with the exception of the literature on sexualized labour and the commodification of women's (assumed hetero)sexuality in sales-service work (Tyler, 1997). The effect is that the experience and performance of gender and/in/through sexuality at work has been neglected as a topic of empirical investigation. Although sociologists argue that sexuality cannot be understood without reference to gender, and vice versa, few organizational scholars explore the experiences of work with this in mind. This thesis addresses this gap in knowledge. It brings together the perspectives of gay performers and police officers and highlights the prevalence of a „gender imperative‟ throughout the day-to-day lives of these workers. In detailing the workplace experiences of my participants, this thesis also builds on existing studies that tend to focus solely on the general working lives of gay employees. Gay workers face important contextual issues relating to 'passing', 'coming out' and homophobia. Although these are key areas of interest to existing literature, studies so far fail to address these concepts in detail with reference to specific occupational settings. In other words, the research contributes to the area of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) disclosure and management at work. Stigma-based models (Goffman, 1963) are particularly useful here in framing some of the empirical insights of my research.

Scholarly research on the subject of the swift pace of change in support for same-sex marriage has evolved significantly over the last ten years. The shift has gone beyond the scholarship's initial description amongst demographic groups on how opinion has changed on gay rights issues, like same-sex marriage, to an examination of why the change has occurred. A great deal of the initial research on the topic seemed to focus on demographic traits that suggested a greater propensity toward support for same-sex marriage as time went on. Is the existent literature sufficient to explain why such a dramatic change in public opinion has occurred in the United States? My goal in this paper is to explore the plausibility that electoral events and the public dialogue/debate that surround them have accelerated the impact described in the four predominant theories, cohort succession, contact theory, intracohort theory, and media exposure. This paper includes three separate hypotheses to explore the possible connections between efforts to restrict gay rights at the ballot box and the ever-increasing support for same-sex marriage in public opinion polls. The results provide some preliminary indication that there are plausible connections between individual statewide efforts to restrict gay rights and increases in national public opinion support for same-sex marriage. The first analysis examines electoral events concerning gay rights in states where these issues have faced voters most frequently; California, Maine, and Oregon. The first hypotheses posits a potential connection between exposure to gay rights at the ballot box and greater support for gay rights in subsequent elections concerning gay rights in the same state. No clear or consistent pattern of support emerges for successive electoral measures concerning gay rights where voters have been previously exposed to gay rights question in an electoral context. The second analysis explores national public opinion support for same-sex marriage as statewide ballot measures increase in popularity across the United States. The second hypotheses posits a connection between an increase in statewide electoral events concerning questions of same-sex marriage and an increase in national public opinion support for same-sex marriage with state-to-nation diffusion occurring and prodding upward national public opinion support for same-sex marriage simultaneously. The hypotheses is confirmed by data that suggests as election events on same-sex marriage increase across the United States at the state level, so too increases national public opinion support for same-sex marriage. The third analysis explores the rate of change in support for legal same-sex marriage across the three states where gay rights referenda and ballot initiatives have been most frequent; it posits that in states where voters have greater familiarity with gay rights at the ballot because of previous exposure to them, their support will be greater over time than public opinion measured in other states that have similar political cultures but have not faced the same level of electoral activity on gay rights. The final hypothesis is inconclusive because of the fluid nature of the same-sex marriage debate in the universe of states within the United States. States are handling this salient issue in a number of ways; some legislatures now seem to be taking steps to legalize same-sex marriage statutorily; others may take no action to propel the provision of same-sex marriage equality or end constitutional bans on the practice; while another group of states are leaving activists to litigate the policy in Federal courts or shift the debate toward statewide popular votes on the issue of authorizing same-sex marriage at the ballot box via ballot initiative or referendum.

The historic 2015 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges—which extended marriage equality to every state nationwide—coupled with an increase in the number of reported same-sex parent households in America (Gates, 2013) has resulted in greater social, political, and academic visibility for same-sex families in recent years (Breshears & Braithwaite, 2014). Despite this increased cultural visibility, because gay parent families (GPFs) fall outside the parameters of the traditional family model (i.e., a married heterosexual husband and wife couple raising biological children) (Baxter, 2014a), they necessarily rely more heavily on discourse to manage their nontraditional family identity (Galvin, 2006; 2014). To date, little is known about how married gay male parents discursively create and sustain family identity and how they position their families in relation to the dominant heteronormative discourses of traditional marriage, family, and fatherhood. Framed by Baxter’s (2011) relational dialectics theory—a heuristic communication theory useful for investigating the meaning-making process—this study explored the meaning(s) of marriage, family, and fatherhood in married gay fathers’ relational talk. I interviewed 13 married gay parent dyads twice to collect data from the couples across time as well as member check initial results during secondary interviews. Using contrapuntal analysis, I identified the following discourses at the three sites of meaning-making in the data: the discourses of marriage as symbolic and marriage as practical ; the discourses of traditional family structure and nontraditional family structure ; and the discourses of gay culture and gay fatherhood in addition to the discourses of heteronormative fatherhood and co-parenting. I argue that the couples’ talk reflected discursive struggles and, in one case, transformation, to generate relational meanings for their family identities.

In recent years, Canadian governments and courts have increasingly responded positively to the demands of lesbian and gay communities for legal rights. As a result, in several instances, such rights have been extended, at both statutory and constitutional levels. In this thesis, I consider the politics of struggles for lesbian and gay legal equality in Canada. Although I explore several developments in this area, I focus my analysis upon two key examples: the struggle, in 1986, to add a "sexual orientation" ground to Ontario's Human Rights Code; and a key legal rights case launched in the late 1980s, and still on-going as of this writing (Mossop). More specifically, I address three key questions: [1] how are lesbian and gay subjects and subjectivities constituted through human rights law and what forces produce these legal constructions? [2] how capable are liberal democracies of accommodating 'sexual pluralism', and what are the implications of this for other areas of social transformation? [3] what is the relationship between the lesbian and gay rights movement, its principal opponents the New Christian Right, and 'the state' - how do the struggles of social movements for interpretive authority shape the law-making process (and vice versa)? In responding to these questions, I draw upon diverse approaches in legal theory, sociology, feminism, and lesbian and gay studies. My analysis centres upon the role of law as a site of struggle. I explore the engagements between the lesbian and gay rights movement, and its key opponent the New Christian Right. I assess the effects of lesbian and gay rights campaigns in both the short and long terms, considering issues to do with social movement mobilisation, effective political communication, and the role of these struggles in shifting dominant frameworks of meaning. I offer a detailed discussion of the role of rights, as goal and rhetoric, within political action. And I consider the relationship between law, and other forms of knowledge. I argue that the effects of legal struggle are complex, contradictory, and unpredictable. Lesbian and gay rights reforms have both entrenched and undermined dominant paradigms of sexuality, and the effects of legal struggle in this and other areas must be assessed in the long-term. This thesis contributes to knowledge in four key areas: critical rights theory; theories of law and social change; the sociology of social movements and religions; and lesbian and gay politics. I use a combination of legal, sociological, feminist, and historical methodologies.

This dissertation consists of four chapters on the economics of marriage and divorce in Iran. The first chapter outlines major forces driving the recent transitions in Iran's marriage market. Age structure of the population, the rise of women's education, marriage and divorce laws, and fertility decline are the four main forces influencing marriage transitions, that is, the age of marriage, couple's age and education gaps, quality of marriage (stability, education status of children), and women's power within marriage. Chapter two looks at the change in age structure that influences the sex ratio. I consider the influence of the sex ratio on couples' age and education gaps using data from multiple national surveys from 1984-2007. The findings of this chapter show that a lower sex ratio, i.e. a greater supply of marriage-age women, increases the bargaining power of men at the time of marriage and thereby increases their ability to marry younger and more educated women. In chapter three, I evaluate the effects of demographic change, the sex ratio, and policy change, particularly the provision of family planning programs through health clinics on delayed marriage in rural Iran. I use data from Iran's 2000 Demographic and Health Survey to estimate a hazard model of timing of marriage. The results show that a lower sex ratio decreases the chances of a woman finding a man five years older, and easier access to family planning decreases her probability of marriage. In chapter four, I provide a legal history of Iran's marriage and divorce laws and then discuss how changes in the legal structure of marriage and divorce alter the terms of marital bargaining and force women to circumvent inequitable Iranian laws to improve their position. Then, I present a model of how Mahrieh could improve a woman's position within the household in light of the unequal divorce rights favoring men. As women cannot exit their marriage, they request a conditional and legally enforceable bond known as Mahrieh from their husbands to secure themselves against the risks of divorce or maltreatment within marriage.
Ph. D.

This thesis analyses international gay rights advocacies in Africa, using the country Ghana as a focal point. Gay rights by their mere sound, seem a concept that all should embrace without questions or qualms. Yet, there are not many concepts that have seen so much controversies, complexities and ironies than gay rights; especially in Africa. This thesis attempts to understand what gay rights are; how they have been received; and the reasons that underpin such receptions in an African country. It argues that, the intrinsic complexities embedded in gay rights advocacies require a cautious socio-legal unpacking beyond the easy and lazy racial stereotyping that currently characterises the debates. That systematic unpacking of the events of the (colonial) past and (postcolonial) present in order to make sense of the future is the central objective here. Using qualitative empirical evidence from primary and secondary sources, this thesis juxtaposes the philosophical realms of human rights theory, postcolonial theory and queer theory to the everyday and practical realities affecting gay people and stakeholders alike. It holds that, perhaps it is through engaging these theories holistically; and transposing them meaningfully to the contextual dispositions, could we make sense of the enormous issues (like the sources and effects of homophobia) that confront us.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Journalism, 2008.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 22, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-10, Section: A, page: 3793. Adviser: Radhika Parameswaran.

This thesis explores the relationship between local government and social change strategies. More specifically, it examines the series of highly contested attempts during the 1980s to deploy local government in order to challenge the discrimination and prejudice facing lesbians and gay men. Whilst, much of the effort was directed at making council services more responsive to lesbian and gay needs, a key aspect of the project concerned the transformation of dominant sexual meanings. Four questions provide a theoretical and empirical framework for this research. First, why did some local authorities address lesbian and gay issues? Second, how successful were they in doing so? Third, what factors constrained or limited their attempts? And fourth, why were lesbian and gay municipal initiatives so controversial? The first section of this thesis examines the reconstitution of lesbian and gay issues on the local government agenda, and the subsequent trajectory of their development within particular authorities. The thesis then goes on to examine the impact of bureaucratic processes and right-wing opposition on lesbian and gay municipal discourses. I argue that despite significant opposition to lesbian and gay policies, in general the right did not mobilise. The ideological steer within local government bureaucracy was usually sufficient to 'weed out' or dilute more progressive proposals. However, on occasions where this broke down, opposing forces intervened, both to obstruct lesbian and gay initiatives and to use the policies' existence to advance their own political agenda. The final part of this thesis draws together several key issues: the general absence of a more radical sexual politics; the crisis of implementation; the nature of opponents' attitudes towards homosexuality and local government; and the decline of lesbian and gay municipal politics post-1987. In the conclusion, I return to the question of local government's radical potential by proposing an alternative, decentred approach to municipal sexual politics. Methodologically, this thesis is eclectic drawing on several disciplinary areas in conjunction with a range of theoretical perspectives, particularly neo-marxism, feminism and poststructuralism. Field research comprises of interviews, mass media and local government documentation combined with my own experiences as an actor within the municipal lesbian and gay project. This thesis is intended to make a contribution to a theoretical understanding of municipal politics, especially to the relationship between local government, sexuality, ideology and social change. it also offers a detailed account and analysis of lesbian and gay municipal developments, one of the most controversial initiatives of the 1980s.

The aim of this study is to explore the lives and identities of gay Arab Muslim men living in the U.K., a group that has not been specifically or exclusively researched in any previous study within the British context. The thesis aims to demonstrate how various identities such as sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender and social class intersect with each other within three different contexts: in an intra-personal context, in the context of relationships with family and kin, and in the context of interactions in white-dominant gay and non-gay spaces. The thesis investigates the outcomes of these intersections and how these outcomes are managed and negotiated. The study’s epistemology aligns in a broad sense with feminist epistemological approaches in making subjugated voices and marginalised experiences heard. A qualitative research methodology is adopted involving individual interviews with 35 men. Intersectionality is utilised as a theoretical framework, and the thesis asserts that concepts such as intra-categorical and inter-categorical intersectionality are extremely useful for achieving an in-depth understanding of the complexities and nuances of the lived experiences and identities of these men, illustrating both the diversity of experience subsumed within supposedly homogeneous ethnic categorisations, and uncovering how these men’s interlocking identities may be characterised by experiences of multiple discriminations, including homophobia, racism and Islamophobia.

This study utilizes William Benoit’s Image Repair Theory to frame the dominant crisis communication strategies that fast food chain Chick-fil-A (CFA) employed before, during and after their CEO mixed his personal opinion on social issues with corporate policy in June 2012. The thematic analysis draws from three distinct data sets that include 3,900 Facebook comments posted by the general public on CFA’s social media page, 32 individual Atlanta Journal-Constitution news articles that address the debate and CFA’s public response to the crisis titled “Who We Are.” This thesis aims to identify both the dominant themes in Facebook posts and the news articles, as well as how these themes are situated within Benoit’s Image Repair Theory. Research shows that CFA representatives utilized eight of Benoit’s 14 strategies to address their CEO’s comments on gay marriage in an attempt to salvage their reputation. The transcendence strategy was used more than any other throughout the crisis. The thematic analysis of Facebook comments showed that religion and loyalty were the most addressed theme within social media users’ posts on the company’s page. Research also shows that a national boycott initiated against CFA by the LGBTQ community did not hurt the company, but may have helped to spur brand recognition and overall sales. Another pertinent question arose during this research; did company representatives purposely forgo sharing their 2011 and 2012 tax documents that prove they had already stopped contributing to supposed anti-gay organizations more than a year before the controversy arose? Was CFA benefiting from the crisis to such an extent that they strategically remained silent and allowed the misconception to take place when they could have ended the crisis and shown proof?

This thesis is a qualitative sociological study into the phenomenon of gay Nazi fetishism in the Internet age, and its wider social and political implications. This sociological research is timely because of the proliferation of online groups targeted at those with fetishistic sexual interests as well as the increasing adoption of queer theory as a theoretical framework through which to analyse non-normative sexualities. Data was collected through examining a range of websites and groups targeted at gay men who enjoy Nazi fetishism. Drawing on interviews with 22 members of one particular gay Nazi fetish group, it is argued that the Internet provides real and important benefits for those exploring non-normative desires, compensating for a number of perceived offline dis-satisfactions as well as offering opportunities to enhance and experiment with sexual play. Nonetheless, this proliferation of non-normative sex does not mean that the world will necessary be a ‘queerer’ place. Not only do problematic hierarchies and exclusions operate on Nazi fetish websites, but its members demonstrate a firm (over)conformity to heteronormative masculinity. Moreover, the appropriation of Nazism for both sexual fantasy and sexual practice draws from and re-iterates its well-established and horrific history rather than, as some queer theorists assert, providing a means to re-signify Nazi regalia. I conclude that the subversive effects of non-normative sexuality should not be assumed but rather that research needs to pay closer attention to the gendered and sexual identities and political sensibilities of its practitioners as well as the ways through which they frame, experience and understand their embodied sexual practice.

This study is a content analysis of news frames used in the coverage of Proposition 8 by newspapers in Utah and California, spanning the three months prior to its passage in November 2008, to the three months after its passage. A total of 401 news stories from five newspapers were analyzed to examine which of five news frames (attribution of responsibility, human interest, conflict, morality, and economic consequence) were used most predominantly and if the use of those frames varied by newspaper. Conflict was the most predominantly used frame, followed by attribution of responsibility, morality, economic consequence and human interest. The use of news frames did vary by newspaper. The newspapers in Utah used the morality frame more often in their coverage of Proposition 8 than the newspapers in California. Framing choices by the newspapers also changed over time. The use of the human interest frame decreased sharply after the November ballot vote, while the use of the responsibility frame and conflict frame showed a meaningful increase.

Since the first empirical paper on the topic more than two decades ago (Badgett, 1995), the common story in the literature on wages and sexual orientation has been that gay men face a wage penalty compared to heterosexual men while lesbians are paid the same as or more than heterosexual women. However, none of the papers in the literature have thoroughly addressed the role of marital status in these wage gaps. Using data from the 2013-2015 American Community Survey and OLS as well as selection-corrected estimators, we show that the gay male penalty exists only for the group of married men, while the lesbian wage premium persists across marital status but is smaller for married lesbians.
Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Marriage is regarded as one of the most important and universal cultural symbols of belonging, and incorporates a range of privileges that can be acquired in no other way. It is where relationships of desire, politics and economics are fused into personal and public rituals of socially sanctioned connection and inclusion. Yet it draws new boundaries of social inclusion and exclusion or stigmatisation. In this thesis I use narrative inquiry to investigate how seventeen Capetonian queer couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage, and ask whether the Civil Union Act has given them a greater sense of belonging. Sexuality is deeply politicised through gendered disciplinary regimes that impinge on people’s emotional and intimate lives. Sexual politics in South Africa today emerge from a complex history of the sycretisation of widely varying cultural and political discourses, beliefs and practices wrought through colonialism and post-colonial recuperation. The formal protection of lgbti-q identities in the post-apartheid South African Constitution is the outcome of strategic struggles for lgbti-q recognition as human rights. However, formal rights do not necessarily lead to social inclusion as they may not reflect extant cultural values, hence I use the thicker concept of ‘belonging’ as developed by Yuval-Davis to analyse everyday inclusion—a concept which enables me to understand ‘privatised’ and affective dimensions of citizenship shaped by contexts of care and interpersonal intimacy. Worldwide, marriage has long been a central institution in how societies regulate their social and physical reproduction; but marriage also confers privileges which can be accessed in no other way. As in the West, marriage equality was a key aim for lgbti-q struggles in South Africa. But feminists have critiqued marriage as an institution of gendered hierarchy and a site of profound oppression for women. It is at the centre of the private|public dichotomy, and symbolic of women’s differentiated citizenship through, inter alia, the ideology of ‘women as property’. Hence same-sex marriage is deeply politicised in how it upholds or challenges heteropatriarchy. By looking at how a diverse range of same-sex couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage in South Africa, I unravel the ambiguities and contradictions of marriage as a project of belonging for lesbians and gays. Marriage as a sexual politics of belonging is about how lesbian and gay citizens experience equality and dignity in their everyday lives—recognition of them as citizen-subjects, protection of their intimate relationships as well as their struggles for belonging. I engage with the complex outcomes of colonial conquest and post-colonial recuperation on African sexual identities, before turning to an understanding of queer citizenship. I show how belonging is a much thicker concept than citizenship because it accesses our affective relationships. I proceed to use Nira Yuval-Davis’s framework for analysing belonging. She divides belonging into two streams: facets of belonging relating to identities, social locations and political and ethical values; and a politics of belonging. Struggles for belonging are waged around boundaries of inclusions and exclusions, and only become visible when belonging is contested. Projects for belonging are complex and multi-layered negotiations around the boundaries of belonging. Using narrative inquiry, I present the stories of seventeen couples and six key informants to fashion a narrative about same-sex marriage as a project of belonging. I asked them about coming out, and how they met their partners. They also told me about their relationships with children and significant others. We talked about their perceptions and experiences of same-sex marriage, and their views of the Constitution and Civil Union Act. I also asked about their sense of safety as queers and what they thought needed to be done to help queers belong (more). The participants’ most significant sense of belonging derived from having their rights protected in the Constitution. Their sense of entitlement to be who they are, was the outcome of powerful struggles for recognition. The various couples had been in committed relationships for between 8 and 52 years. Some had made use of the immigration status of same-sex partners to be together, which meant they were instantly thrown into ‘marriage’-like situations. Some didn’t want to get married, but 10 couples were married. Except for two couples, all the couples who got married did it primarily for the tangible benefits associated with marriage: through marriage they established formal kinship relationships linked to property and commitment to care. They were generally not interested in the cultural trappings of ‘weddings’, and had modest and quiet ceremonies. All the married couples affirmed that the Act had given them a greater sense of belonging. While all the participants valued formal recognition through the Constitution, the lack of substantive equality needed to be addressed to ensure future belonging for lgbti-q. I concluded that same-sex marriages are powerful social institutions, capable of either upholding heteropatriarchies through homonormative performances, but also capable of subversions. A foundational challenge comes through disrupting the ‘women as property’ exchange embedded in most marital traditions.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huwelik word beskou as een van die belangrikste en algemeenste kulturele simbole van samesyn, en behels ’n reeks voordele wat op geen ander manier toeganklik is nie. Die huwelik is die kern waar begeerte, politiek en ekonomie verenig in persoonlike en openbare instellings van gemeenskaplike aanvaarding en verbinding. Terselfdertyd teken dit ook nuwe grense van sosiale insluiting, uitsluiting of stigmatisering. In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek wat sewentien Kaapse queer paartjies in vaste verhoudings dink van gay huwelike en hoe hulle dit ondervind, en ek vra of die Civil Union Act hulle meer samesyn (belonging) laat voel. Seksualiteit is uiters polities omdat dissiplinêre sisteme mense se emosionele en intieme lewes reguleer. Seksuele politiek in die huidige Suid-Afrika spruit uit ’n gekompliseerde geskiedenis van ’n samevloeiing van verkillende kulturele en politiese diskoerse, gelowe en praktyke van kolonialisme en post-kolonialistiese herstel. Die formele beskerming van lgbti-q identiteite in die post-apartheid Grondwet van Suid-Afrika, is die uitkomste van strategiese stryde vir lgbti-q herkenning as menseregte. Nogtans het formele regte nie noodwendig gelei tot sosiale insluiting omdat hulle nie die bestaande kulturele waardes weerspieël nie, daarom gebruik ek die konsep van ‘samesyn’ soos ontwikkel deur Yuval-Davis om alledaagse insluiting te ontleed—’n konsep wat my in staat stel om die ‘private’ en emosionele dimensies van burgerskap, die kontekste van sorg en interpersoonlike intimiteit, te verstaan. Wêreldswyd is die huwelik ’n kerninstelling in die regulering van sosiale en fisiese voortplanting in gemeenskappe. Maar die huwelik verleen ook voorregte wat op geen ander manier verkrygbaar is nie. Soos in die Weste, is huweliks-gelykheid ’n sleutelpunt in stryde vir lgbti-q erkenning in Suid-Afrika. Maar feministe het kritiek gelewer teen die huwelik omdat hulle glo dis ’n terrein vir die instelling van geslagshiërargie en diepgaande onderdrukking van vroue. Dit is die spilpunt waarom die verdeling tussen privaat | openbaar draai, en is simbolies van vroue se gedifferensieerde burgerskap deur, onder andere, die ideologie van ‘vroue as besittings’. Dus is gay huwelike polities ingewortel in hoe hulle heteropatriargie onderskraag of aanvat. Deur te kyk hoe etlike Suid-Afrikaanse paartjies van dieselfde geslag hulle toegewyde verhoudings beskou en ondervind, ontrafel ek die raaisels en dubbelsinnighede van gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn vir lesbiërs en gays. Die huwelik as seksuele politiek van samesyn is hoe lesbiese en gay burgers in die alledaagse lewe hulle gelykheid en menswaardigheid beleef—dat hulle as burgers erken word, en dat hulle intieme verhoudings sowel as hulle stryde vir samesyn gekoester word. Ek ontrafel die kompleksiteit van Afrikane se seksualiteite deur die gevolge van koloniale verowering en post-koloniale herwinning aan te pak, voor ek na queer burgerskap kyk. Ek bewys dat samesyn ’n meer betekenisvolle begrip is as burgerskap omdat dit ook ons emosionele verhoudings kan aanspreek. Ek gebruik Nira Yuval-Davis se raamwerk vir die ontleding van samesyn. Sy deel dit in twee strome: fasette van samesyn verbonde aan identiteite, sosiale stand en politieke en etiese waardes; en die politiek van samesyn. Stryde oor samesyn word rondom grense van insluiting en uitsluiting gevoer, en word slegs sigbaar wanneer samesyn bevraagteken word. Projekte vir samesyn is ingewikkeld met veelvoudige onderhandelings rondom grense van in— of uitsluiting. Ek gebruik verhaalontleding om die stories van sewentien paartjies en ses sleutelinformante te omskep in ’n vertelling omtrent gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn. Ek het hulle gevra oor hoe hulle “uit die kas geklim” het, en hoe hulle hulle minnaars ontmoet het. Hulle het my ook vertel van hulle verhoudings met hulle kinders en belangrike mense in hulle lewens. Ons het gepraat oor hulle sienswyses oor, en ondervindings van, gay huwelike, en hulle sienings oor die Grondwet en Civil Union Act. Ek het ook uitgevra omtrent hoe veilig hulle voel as queers, en wat hulle dink gedoen moet word sodat queers (meer) samesyn kan ondervind. Die deelnemers se grootse gevoel van samesyn was as gevolg van hulle regte wat gekoester word deur die Grondwet. Hulle gevoel van geregtigheid om te wees wie hulle is, het gespruit uit ’n kragtige stryd vir erkenning. Die verskillende paartjies was tussen 8 en 52 jaar lank in vaste verhoudings. Party het gebruik gemaak van die immigrasie wetgewing vir gay minnaars om saam te bly, wat beteken het dat hulle hulle summier in ‘huwelik’-soortige verhoudings bevind het. Party wou nie trou nie, maar 10 paartjies het getrou. Behalwe twee paartjies, het al die paartjies gesê hulle het hoofsaaklik getrou om die tasbare voordele van huwelike te geniet: deur huwelike kon hulle formele verwantskappe skep met besittings en verpligtings tot sorg. Hulle was oor die algemeen nie geïnteresseerd in die kulturele vertoon van troues nie, en het beskeie en stil seremonies gehou. Al die getroude paartjies het gesê dat die Civil Union Act hulle ’n groter gevoel van samesyn gebring het. Alhoewel al die deelnemers die amptelike erkenning van die Grondwet waardeer het, het hulle gesê dat die gebrekkigheid aan substantiewe gelykheid aangespreek moet word om toekomstige samesyn vir gays te verseker. Ek het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat gay huwelike kragtige gemeenskaplike instellings is wat heteropatriargieë kan onderskraag deur homonormatiewe gedrag, maar dat hulle ook ondermynend kan wees. ’n Fundamentele uitdaging is die moontlike ontwrigting van ‘vroue as besittings’ onderhandelings wat in meeste huwelikstradisies vasgelê is.

When the Supreme Court grants new rights, public awareness is a crucial part of enforcement. Gerald N. Rosenberg and Michael J. Klarman famously criticized minority rights organizations for attempting to gain new rights through the judiciary. The crux of their argument relied heavily on the American media's scanty coverage of Court issues and subsequent low public awareness of Court cases. Using the 2013 United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry rulings as a case study, I suggest that the media environment has changed so much since Rosenberg and Klarman were writing that their theories warrant reconsideration. Minority rights groups now have access to social media, a potentially powerful tool with which to educate the public about the Supreme Court and new rights granted by the Court.

When the Supreme Court grants new rights, public awareness is a crucial part of enforcement. Gerald N. Rosenberg and Michael J. Klarman famously criticized minority rights organizations for attempting to gain new rights through the judiciary. The crux of their argument relied heavily on the American media's scanty coverage of Court issues and subsequent low public awareness of Court cases. Using the 2013 United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry rulings as a case study, I suggest that the media environment has changed so much since Rosenberg and Klarman were writing that their theories warrant reconsideration. Minority rights groups now have access to social media, a potentially powerful tool with which to educate the public about the Supreme Court and new rights granted by the Court.

This paper analyzes the legal arguments that have been used toallow the gradual introduction of same-sex marriage and civil unions in some Latin American countries. The author makes a critical account of the contentious cases and legislative responses to claims for recognition and protection of human rights of people with a particular sexual orientation. The most representative Latin American countries are analyzed from the point of view of its relevance in comparative terms.
En el presente trabajo se exponen los argumentos jurídicos que han servido para permitir la introducción paulatina del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo y las uniones civiles en algunos países de Latinoamérica. El autor hace una descripción crítica de los casos contenciosos, así como las respuestas legislativas a las demandas de reconocimiento y protección de los derechos humanos de las personas con una orientación sexual determinada. Se analizan los países de Latinoamérica más representativos desde el punto de vista de relevancia comparada para efectos de extraer observaciones y argumentos que puedan servir para explicar la realidad en otros tantos países del mismo entorno geográfico.

With the aim of increasing practitioner competence, this dissertation provides marriage and family therapists and mental health service providers with insight into the experiences of legally married same-sex couples. Specifically, the inquiry's objective was to elicit narratives of strength and agency from these couples who navigated the oppressive circumstances of an anti-gay amendment campaign situated within the debate over the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples. Fourteen couples were interviewed in order to respond to the dissertation's overriding question: How do the lesbian and gay couples and families who are among those who were legally married in California before the passage of Proposition 8 narrate their experiences of their marriages? Through portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997), a method of inquiry situated within a postmodern, social constructionist framework, a narrative was produced which evolved through five emergent themes: 1) Our Commitments Have Rich Histories -- the symbolic and legal ways in which these couples commemorated and brought definition to their commitments, in the absence of a nationally-sanctioned and collectively-recognized state of legal marriage; 2) Not a Simple Matter: The Complexities of Language Choice -- their contextual language choices, which reflected the absence of representative and collectively-recognized language options for their relationships after their legal marriages; 3) The Battle Metaphor -- the couples' experiences of California's political debate over the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples; 4) Support Shaped Lived Experiences -- the impact of support from friends, family, and community; and lastly, 5) Legal Marriage Shaped Individual, Relational, and Social Identities -- individual, relational and social shifts that occurred for the couples through the experience of being legally married. A follow-up focus group further validated the theme Support Shaped Lived Experiences, and examined more deeply the tensions that occurred when important persons were silent about and/or did not recognize the legitimacy of the couples' legal marriages, and/or the discriminatory context in which their legal marriages were situated. In addition to its contribution of the experiences of legally married same-sex couples to the family therapy literature, the dissertation concludes with important implications for affirmative therapeutic practice, research, education, training, advocacy, and social policy.

Submitted by Murilo Esteves de Santi (murilo_es@hotmail.com) on 2016-07-12T17:47:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 biblioteca.pdf: 575242 bytes, checksum: a061c3686ed763a0e9468ec7a8c130a0 (MD5)
Approved for entry into archive by GILSON ROCHA MIRANDA (gilson.miranda@fgv.br) on 2016-11-29T11:40:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 biblioteca.pdf: 575242 bytes, checksum: a061c3686ed763a0e9468ec7a8c130a0 (MD5)
Approved for entry into archive by Maria Almeida (maria.socorro@fgv.br) on 2016-12-06T13:22:08Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 biblioteca.pdf: 575242 bytes, checksum: a061c3686ed763a0e9468ec7a8c130a0 (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-06T13:23:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 biblioteca.pdf: 575242 bytes, checksum: a061c3686ed763a0e9468ec7a8c130a0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016
I study the impact of the changes in the U.S. labor market that took place in the last few decades - such as the increase in the college wage premium and the reduction in the gender wage gap - on the intergenerational persistence of income, with a particular emphasis on the marriage market channel. To motivate my analysis, I document a positive cross-country correlation between intergenerational persistence of income (and education) and educational assortative mating. I then develop an overlapping generations model in which parents invest in their children's education and individuals choose whom they are going to marry, and estimate the model to fit the postwar U.S. data. My results suggest that both of these changes have affected the intergenerational earnings persistence, but that the marriage decision plays only a very small role in these results.

En Chine contemporaine, dans le cadre de la construction d’une société harmonieuse, il s’agit de bien encourager le vivre ensemble de toutes les cultures dans le respect de la différence de chacun. C’est alors, que les hommes homosexuels, véritablement minoritaires, peuvent peu à peu faire partie de la vie publique dans la société. Gagneront-ils assez d’espace de liberté pour exister pleinement? Cette question ne peut pas être ignorée.Cette étude se penche sur les techniques de survie adoptées par des hommes homosexuels à Beijing en Chine. Plus particulièrement, elle concerne les relations entre l’internet et la construction de l’identité des hommes homosexuels. Elle aborde aussi les problèmes d’une famille composée d’un homme homosexuel ayant une épouse hétérosexuelle.La théorie que cette thèse s'efforce à démontrer est le fait que le contexte culturel et la structure sociale en Chine limitent l’expansion du cadre de vie pour les hommes homosexuels . Comme nouveau média, l’internet a les caractéristiques d’un espace hétérogène. Il satisfait aux demandes des hommes « homosexuels » qui veulent construire leurs identités de genre, individuelles et collectives. Cependant, l’internet réduit aussi la possibilité de faire évoluer les choses dans la société, et de demander les mêmes droits et intérêts pour les hommes homosexuels . En passant d'un cadre à un autre leurs identités deviennent fragiles et instables. Par conséquent, on peut dire que sans bien construire cette culture, les hommes homosexuels chinois ne peuvent pas créer un « western-style gay mouvement » [mouvement homosexuel à l'occidentale] à court terme
In contemporary China, “homosexuals,” a true minority group, emerge gradually into the public view. In the context of the construction of a harmonious society in China, whether “homosexuals” obtain enough space to develop their culture or not becomes a question that we cannot overlook. The themes of this dissertation are the survival tactics of male “homosexuals” both within and outside of the internet environment. It discusses the construction of “homosexual” identity in different spaces and examines marriages between “homosexuals” and “heterosexuals.”The author holds that the special cultural context and social structure in China limits the expansion of the “homosexuals’” living space. Internet, a new medium, offers them a comparatively free space and fills their requirement of accessing individual and collective identities. Nonetheless, at the same time, internet keeps the “homosexuals” from fighting for their rights in real society. Survival tactics, which are carried out in the different spaces, make the collective consciousness of “homosexual” identity instable and vulnerable, and reduces the possibility of starting a western-style “gay movement” in China

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eliana Sandra Rosito.pdf: 14905985 bytes, checksum: 0b16d2800fd14892825c7c6b36240b49 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-25
This study was conducted in order toverify, through specific researchconducted at the Pontifical Catholic University - PUC University and SãoPaulo - USP, as people of the same sex , deal with the emotions in a marriage relationship. Method; systematic review of the literature with 11 papers, 01Doctoral Thesis and Dissertations 07 and 03 of the PUC Dissertations USP. The reading was based on the phenomenological approach, makingeven more possible, the approach of the researchers and their various points of view, and the experience of each partnerin the relationship with himself, withothers and with the world. After analyzing all the data, I concludedthat the construction of the homoafetiva relationship, starts from the homosexuality selfdiscovery, ie, with the acceptance of a homosexualorientation itself. In general, the couplesmeet each other through the internet, friends or places, which are frequented by the public GLBTS (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Supporters).In most cases, the dating and decision of living together, occurs in a short time. The main reason is the lack of space and / or privacy, in order to live the relationship experience. With regards to the division of domestic roles and responsabilities , was noticed that, there is a consensus between the couple, in according to the preference of each one, ie, there is no definition of "roles or responsabilities" related to male and/orfemale. Also, was identified that, onde they are living together, conflicts arises, regarding the acceptance of the families of each one and, even in cases where the conflict is solved, the distance between the family and the couple remains, especially for not recognizing or notlegitimize the union between the couple. With regards the social and professional environment, most couples reported that, although they have a good acceptance among friends, in the workplace, theyavoid talking about their (its) partners (a), fearing about their job. Based on the exposed, the construction of homoafetiva marital relationship is possible and, is structured on: respect, complicity, division of tasks equally, network support and balance, since, beingpairs formed by two people of the same sex, they have higher complicity. During the studies, it was noted that, some issues are still not addressed, such as: jealousy, fidelity, the vision of each one with regards to the "marriage" and, how they will to experience this new family configuration . Even discussed atlower levels, these issues are as important as the other widely presented in this study. Therefore, there is still a vast fieldof study for further research
Este estudo foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de verificar, em pesquisas realizadas na Pontifícia Universidade Católica PUC e Universidade São Paulo USP, como pessoas do mesmo sexo vivenciam papéis e emoções em uma relação familiar de casamento. Método; revisão sistemática de 11 trabalhos. A leitura foi embasada na abordagem fenomenológica, para que eu pudesse me aproximar ainda mais dos pesquisadores e dos seus diversos pontos de vista e da vivência de cada um dos parceiros, na relação com ele mesmo, com o outro e com mundo. Após apreciação de todos os dados, concluí que a construção da relação homoafetiva inicia-se a partir da autodescoberta da homossexualidade, ou seja, com a aceitação da própria orientação como homossexual. Os casais se conhecem, geralmente, através da Internet, amigos ou locais frequentados pelo público GLBTS (Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais, Transexuais e Simpatizantes). Na maioria dos casos, a etapa do namoro e a decisão de morarem juntos ocorrem em curto espaço de tempo. A principal razão é a falta de espaço/privacidade para que eles possam vivenciar a relação. No que se refere à divisão das tarefas, observei que existe um consenso entre o casal, de acordo com a preferência de cada um, ou seja, não existe a definição de papéis ligados ao gênero masculino ou feminino. Também foi identificado que, após irem morar juntos, surgem conflitos de aceitação com as famílias de origem de cada um e, mesmo nos casos onde o conflito foi resolvido, ainda permanece o distanciamento entre elas e o casal, principalmente por não reconhecimento ou legitimação. Quando observada a questão do meio social e do ambiente de trabalho, a maioria dos casais relatou que têm boa aceitação entre os amigos, mas que, no ambiente de trabalho, evitam falar sobre seu parceiro (a), temendo por seu emprego. Logo, a construção da conjugalidade homoafetiva é possível e está estruturada no respeito, na cumplicidade, na divisão de tarefas igualitárias, na rede de apoio e no equilíbrio, pois, por serem pares formados por duas pessoas do mesmo sexo, apresentam maior cumplicidade. Nos estudos, algumas questões ainda são pouco abordadas, como ciúme e fidelidade, visão de cada um a respeito do casamento e maneira de vivenciar essa nova configuração de família. Mesmo discutidas em menor teor, são tão importantes quanto as que foram amplamente apresentadas. Portanto, ainda há um vasto campo de estudo para novas pesquisas

Over the last few decades, there has been a significant increase in the political and public acceptance of gay men and lesbians. However, this trend of acceptance is not a global phenomenon. Currently over 70 countries still criminalise private consensual same-sex intimacy, among which are 11 of the 12 independent Commonwealth Caribbean states. It should be noted that the anti-gay laws of the Caribbean are rarely used to police consensual private sexual activities. Thus, if private same-sex conduct is rarely penalised, why keep the laws in place, especially in the age where such bans are considered a violation of basic human rights? Many policy makers in the region have cited public opinions about homosexuality as a significant barrier to law reform. However, while a common view is that these laws are anchored by public support, very few studies have emerged to test whether the attitudes and behaviours of the general population are in line with this view. Against this backdrop, this thesis analyses attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and their legal rights in the Commonwealth Caribbean. The thesis begins with an analysis of support for the anti-gay laws in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. The analysis revealed that a majority of the sample supported the maintenance and enforcement of the laws, but did not want same-sex couples to be penalised for having sex in private. This suggests that attitudes may not be as stark as policy makers suggest. The descriptive statistics also show that a significant share of individuals think that the laws (1) reflect moral standards; (2) stop the spread of homosexuality; (3) are important from a public health perspective, and (4) protect young people from abuse. Support for the laws are thus related to beliefs that homosexuality is a 'threat' to the fabric of society. The empirical analysis of support for the laws revealed that religiousness, interpersonal contact and beliefs about the origin of homosexuality were the most reliable predictors of public support. However, age and education were only statistically significant in a few models, and there was no evidence that attitudes varied across religious denominations. This is a contrast to the findings of studies in the West. It was hypothesised that macro-level factors - such as the large share of Evangelicals, anti-gay laws and level of socioeconomic development - could be exerting an influence on attitudes that is stronger than that of these personal characteristics. As such, the study conducted a cross-national analysis of attitudes towards same-sex marriage in 28 countries in the Americas, 6 of which were members of the Commonwealth Caribbean. In general, countries with higher levels of development, smaller shares of Evangelicals and more liberal laws on homosexuality were more approving of same-sex marriage. The results also suggest that the impact of age and/or religion is less prominent in countries with restrictions on same-sex intimacy, lower levels of development and a strong Evangelical presence, confirming the hypothesis that contextual factors could mitigate the impact of some of the individual-level variables. Finally, to get a nuanced view of anti-gay prejudice in the region, a thematic analysis of anti-gay speech in dancehall and reggae - music originating from Jamaica but popular in the region - was presented. The thematic analysis revealed that homosexuality is presented as 'sinful', a 'violation of gendered norms', 'unnatural', a 'threat to society' and a 'foreign lifestyle'. The presentation of homosexuality as a 'foreign' lifestyle suggests that anti-gay prejudice could be related to fears of neo-imperialism and could be a means of rejecting ideological intrusions from the West. This is not surprising, as currently, the fight for the advancement of gay rights is being headed by activists in the West. Based on the thematic analysis, efforts to remove the anti-gay laws should be (or at least appear to be) home-grown to limit public backlash.

Previous research has indicated that married persons report experiencing greater happiness than cohabitating persons (e.g., Stack & Eshleman, 1998). Lee and Ono (2012) conducted a cross-national analysis to compare overall happiness between married and cohabiting couples in different cultural contexts and found the "happiness gap" increased as society became less gender-egalitarian and as the role of religion increased. The current study sought to consider how race and ethnicity might serve as a cultural context within the United States (US) by investigating the differences in relationship satisfaction between married and cohabiting couples by testing two hypotheses. First, it was expected that married couples would have higher relationship satisfaction than cohabitating couples. Secondly, it was expected that the effect of marital status on relationship satisfaction would vary with race/ethnicity. To address these hypotheses, data was taken from the Married and Cohabitating Couples dataset from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research (NCFMR). The data set includes information from 752 married and 323 cohabitating heterosexual couples, from18-64 years of age. Of these individuals, 80.5% were White/Non-Hispanic, 5.0% Black/Non-Hispanic, 4.9% Other/Non-Hispanic, 7.8% Hispanic, and 1.8% 2+Races/Non-Hispanic. A single survey item from the NCFMR study served as the dependent variable in the present study. Participants were asked: "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: Our relationship has changed for the worse”. This item was intended as a measure of relationship satisfaction by determining the relationship between the responses to this item and responses to demographic items about race/ethnicity and marital status. A two way, independent ANOVA analysis found a non-significant main effect of marital status on the respondents’ view of the relationship, F(1, 2070) = .564, p = .453, = 0, a non-significant main effect of race/ethnicity on the respondents view of the relationship, F(4, 2070) = .984, p = .415, = 0 , and a significant interaction between marital status and race/ethnicity, F( 4, 2070) = 2.582. p = .036, = .003. A simple effects analysis was conducted and among White, non-Hispanic respondents, the view of the relationship was more negative among the cohabitating group than among the married group (p < 0.01). However, the view of the relationship was similar for married and cohabitating couples among Black, non-Hispanic (p = .279), Other non-Hispanic (p = .836), Hispanic (p = .533), and 2+Races, non-Hispanic (p = .127). The findings suggest there is no difference between married and cohabitating couple's relationship satisfaction. However, there was a statistically significant difference in relationship satisfaction between married and cohabitating couples in the White, non-Hispanic group but not in the other racial and ethnic groups. The findings of this study should be interpreted with caution as there was a large difference in sample size among the racial and ethnicity groups, decreasing the reliability of the results. Understanding how marital status and race/ethnicity influence relationship satisfaction has important practical implications for relationship education programs such as ensuring that content presented is culturally relevant to diverse groups. Additional limitations and implications will be addressed in the presentation.

Este Doutorado teve como objetivo o entendimento sobre a construção da conjugalidade homossexual feminina e masculina, a partir da eleição de casais longevos, com mais de vinte anos de relacionamento. A partir de coleta de dados por meio de entrevista semidirigida com o casal, acrescida da aplicação de pranchas previamente selecionadas do teste projetivo TAT (Teste de Apercepção Temática), individualmente, sob o método clínico-qualitativo, foram analisados quatro casais, dois masculinos e dois femininos, com e sem filhos vindos de relação heterossexual anterior, sob a perspectiva da psicanálise vincular. Os resultados apontaram para casamentos românticos, com vínculos protetivos e de afeto, porém com influências pós-modernas no que diz respeito ao fato de estarem juntos somente pelo desejo, com flexibilização das performances de gênero e democratização das relações. Os quatro casais demonstraram empenho na construção e manutenção do vínculo conjugal e harmonia no convívio, ressaltando a singularidade de cada um. Esses casais concretizaram suas relações amorosas em uma época não permissiva e patologizante da homossexualidade, fazendo uso do disfarce e da vida dupla como estratégia de sobrevivência, atitude presente ainda na vida de dois dos quatro pares. Essa característica em particular pode fazer com que casais gays necessitem de maiores espaços de fusionamento do que os heterossexuais, para que possam se fortalecer ante os desconfortos sociais pelos quais passam - principalmente os que têm filhos de uniões heterossexuais anteriores. Neste caso, além da própria separação, há também o confronto com a orientação sexual do ex-parceiro. Somente um casal de homens havia se casado legalmente, por temor aos bens conquistados frente aos filhos de um deles; o de mulheres com filho também havia legitimado a relação com União Estável e testamento. Os dois casais sem filhos não haviam providenciado nenhuma legitimação e nem estavam preocupados com isso. A herança heteronormativa que receberam foi adaptada aos seus estilos de vida, embora não tenha havido um espaço familiar e social a ser ocupado a homossexualidade e a homoconjugalidade, embora vistas, são ainda muitas vezes não-nomeadas ou reconhecidas. Não houve referências a traições, sendo que os filhos foram os deflagradores de crises em dois dos casais, ambas superadas. Os resultados alcançados confirmam a teoria psicanalítica vincular no sentido de enfatizar o conceito de alteridade, entre um e outro, como base para a compreensão desse tipo de conjugalidade
This Doctoral thesis aimed to understand the construction of female and male homosexual conjugality by selecting long-lived couples, with more than twenty years of relationship. Based on data collection through semi-structured interviews with the couples and the use of previously selected cards of the projective measure TAT (Thematic Apperception Test), under the clinical-qualitative method, four couples - two male and two female, with and without children from previous heterosexual relationships - were analyzed under the perspective of linkage psychoanalysis. Results point to romantic marriages, with protective and emotional bonds, but under post-modern influence based on the fact they are together only by their desire, with flexibility of the gender performances and democratization of the relations. The four couples demonstrated a commitment to building and sustaining the conjugal bond as well as coexisting in harmony, highlighting the individuality of each one. These couples materialized their love relationships at a nonpermissive and pathologizing time for homosexuality, using disguises and double lives as a strategy for survival, an attitude still present in the lives of two out of the four couples. This characteristic, in particular, may lead a gay couple to need bigger spaces of fusioning when compared to heterosexual couples, so that they can strengthen themselves in the face of the social discomfort which they go through particularly the ones who have kids from previous heterosexual relationships. In this case, in addition to the divorce itself, there is also the confrontation related to the sexual orientation of the ex-partner. Only one couple of men had legally married due to the fear of losing the assets acquired to the children of one of them; the couple of women with a child had also legitimated their relationship through common-law marriage and testament. Both couples without children hadnt sought any type of legal legitimacy nor were worried about it. The heteronormative heritage they received was adapted to their lifestyles, although there hadnt been a family and social place to be occupied homosexuality and homo-conjugality, while seen, are often not named nor recognized. There were no references to betrayals, although, among two of the couples, the children had been the triggers of already overcome crises. The findings confirm the linkage psychoanalysis theory, which emphasizes the concept of otherness, between one and another, as a basis to comprehend this type of conjugality

This study explored and highlighted the experiences of trained Marriage and Family Therapists of Afro-Caribbean descent in working with persons who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning (LGBTQ). The researcher utilized collected data to help to advance our understanding on the potential impact of the cultural experiences and how they may or may not contribute to institutionalized homophobia within the Caribbean, by Mental Health professionals, specifically Marriage and Family Therapists. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with 3 practicing Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) with strong Caribbean upbringing, values, and influences. For the purpose of this study, strong has been defined as having being born and/or raised in the Caribbean. This qualitative study employed the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to aid in making sense of the data that was collected. Data gathered from the interviews of three participants revealed two prominent superordinate themes: “Homophobia” and “Evolving Views” with emerging subthemes that explored culture, religion, “checking yourself at the door” and connecting with persons who identify as LGBTQ. The findings from the study helped to add to the limited research available on the lived experiences of Marriage and Family Therapists of Afro-Caribbean descent and their work with persons who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning (LGBTQ).

The general objective of the study is to assess the role of culture and traditions as stumbling blocks in the legal reform that would lead to the decriminalization of same-sex sexual intercourse. Focuses on the sodomy laws in Africa with specific reference to Uganda. Compares the Ugandan and South African legal regimes. Uganda is chosen because it represents one of the African countries where same-sex unions are specifically prohibited by the Constitution.
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007.
A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof Pierre de Vos of the Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town South Africa.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/
Centre for Human Rights
LLM