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Abstract
Since the late 1980s, an increasing number of governments have extended
varying forms of legal recognition to lesbian and gay couples. This thesis
presents a cross-national, comparative study, focusing on civil partnerships in
the UK and same-sex marriage in Canada and the US State of California. The
study investigates the impact of these forms of recognition from the
perspectives of lesbian and gay couples and, in particular, addresses the social
implications of couples’ new legal status. Drawing on Erving Goffman’s
Stigma as a theoretical basis for the research, the study considers the extent
to which wider policy objectives for legal recognition in terms of reducing
discrimination and raising the profile of lesbian and gay couples have been
achieved. This analysis is based on a detailed investigation of couples’
assessments of the impact of marriage or civil partnership within their
personal social networks and more widely. The study also explores the fallout
from the 2008 Proposition 8 referendum in California, which repealed samesex
marriage there. Drawing on qualitative data, gathered from in-depth
interviews with married or civil partner same-sex couples in the UK, Canada
and California, the study analyses couples’ narratives around legal recognition
to identify the meanings that they attach to their new legal status. The
research concludes that couples broadly welcomed the legal rights and
entitlements that flowed from marriage or civil partnership, and often saw
marriage or civil partnership as providing opportunities to seek recognition
from within their social networks. However, legal recognition did not in itself
guarantee social recognition, indicating a significant gap between policy
ambitions and effects.
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