Save PDF (1.9 MB) - CORE

Structure of the thesis
In setting the context for these research questions and seeking to answer them, the
thesis is structured as follows:
I begin by considering the background to legal recognition. Chapter One explains the
choice of target countries for this study in the context of the international policy
trend towards legal recognition for lesbian and gay couples. The second half of the
chapter explores the policy background to legal recognition in the UK, Canada and
California, framing marriage and civil partnership as equality and anti-discrimination
measures.
Chapter Two reviews the academic literature, offering an historical overview of the
history of marriage, highlighting the constructed nature of marriage, and of
homosexuality itself. This chapter considers unresolved theoretical debates on the
pros and cons of same-sex marriage and civil partnerships as a means of providing
recognition for lesbian and gay couples. The chapter concludes with an exploration
of the growing body of empirical research on same-sex marriage and other forms of
legal recognition for same-sex couples as a starting point for considering the impact
of marriage and civil partnership for participants in this study.
Chapter Three provides a detailed exploration of Erving Goffman’s Stigma as a
theoretical framework for the thesis. Although acknowledging other contributions
to a sociological understanding of stigma, the chapter foregrounds Goffman’s
analysis and evaluates its enduring relevance to homosexuality, same-sex marriage
and civil partnership. This theoretical framework provides the basis for
understanding the impact of same-sex marriage and civil partnership for same-sex
couples.
The methodological considerations that informed the study are explored in Chapter
Four. The chapter acknowledges my own personal commitment to the research field
and sets out the qualitative research strategy that drove my approach to data
collection and analysis. This chapter also considers ethical aspects of the study and
4