Queer Families And Relationships After Marriage Equality

After years of intense debate, same-sex marriage has become a legal reality in many countries around the globe. As same-sex marriage laws spread, Queer Families and Relationships After Marriage Equality asks: What will queer families and relationships look like on the ground? Building on a major conference held in 2016 entitled "After Marriage: The Future of LGBTQ Politics and Scholarship," this collection draws from critical and intersectional perspectives to explore this question. Comprising academic papers, edited transcripts of conference panels, and interviews with activists working on the ground, this collection presents some of the first works of empirical scholarship and first-hand observation to assess the realities of queer families and relationships after same-sex marriage. Including a number of chapters focused on married same-sex couples as well as several on other queer family types, the volume considers the following key questions: What are the material impacts of marriage for same-sex couples? Is the spread of same-sex marriage pushing LGBTQ people toward more "normalized" types of relationships that resemble heterosexual marriage? And finally, how is the spread of same-sex marriage shaping other queer relationships that do not fit the marriage model? By presenting scholarly research and activist observations on these questions, this volume helps translate queer critiques advanced during the marriage debates into a framework for ongoing critical research in the after-marriage period.

Showcasing research from across the social sciences, this edited volume seeks to provide readers with an empirically grounded sense of how many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people marry in the US and Canada, what their marriages look like, and how LGBT people themselves are impacted by marriage and marriage equality. Prior to marriage equality, lawmakers and activists across the political spectrum debated whether same-sex couples should have the legal right to marry, and likewise, academic research to date has focused mostly on the politics of same-sex marriage. However, this edited volume focuses on LGBT people themselves and their intimate relationships in the era of marriage equality. Including both quantitative and qualitative social science research, it features 14 primary chapters that examine a diverse set of topics, including demographic patterns in same-sex marriage and cohabitation, marital aspirations and motivations among LGBT people, arrangements and dynamics within same-sex relationships, and the legal benefits and informal privileges associated with marriage. The edited volume will be of interest to scholars across a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, child and family studies, communications, social work, and economics, while also offering valuable information for laypeople generally interested in families and/or LGBT studies.

What does marriage equality mean for the future of LGBT rights? In persuading the Supreme Court that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, the LGBT rights movement has achieved its most important objective of the last few decades. Throughout its history, the marriage equality movement has been criticized by those who believe marriage rights were a conservative cause overshadowing a host of more important issues. Now that nationwide marriage equality is a reality, everyone who cares about LGBT rights must grapple with how best to promote the interests of sexual and gender identity minorities in a society that permits same-sex couples to marry. This book brings together 12 original essays by leading scholars of law, politics, and society to address the most important question facing the LGBT movement today: What does marriage equality mean for the future of LGBT rights? After Marriage Equality explores crucial and wide-ranging social, political, and legal issues confronting the LGBT movement, including the impact of marriage equality on political activism and mobilization, antidiscrimination laws, transgender rights, LGBT elders, parenting laws and policies, religious liberty, sexual autonomy, and gender and race differences. The book also looks at how LGBT movements in other nations have responded to the recognition of same-sex marriages, and what we might emulate or adjust in our own advocacy. Aiming to spark discussion and further debate regarding the challenges and possibilities of the LGBT movement’s future, After Marriage Equality will be of interest to anyone who cares about the future of sexual equality.

Part of the Queer Ideas series, edited by Michael Bronski QUEER IDEAS-a new series of LGBT hardcovers that address important intellectual questions facing the movement. The debate over marriage equality for same-sex couples rages across the country. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage boldly moves the discussion forward by focusing on the larger, more fundamental issue of marriage and the law. The root problem, asserts law professor and LGBT rights activist Nancy Polikoff, is that marriage is a bright dividing line between those relationships that legally matter and those that don't. A woman married to a man for nine months is entitled to Social Security survivor's benefits when he dies; a woman living for nineteen years with a man or woman to whom she is not married receives nothing. Polikoff reframes the debate by arguing that all family relationships and households need the economic stability and emotional peace of mind that now extend only to married couples. Unmarried couples of any sexual orientation, single-parent households, extended family units, and myriad other familial configurations need recognition and protection to meet the concerns they all share: building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence, and nurturing the next generation. Couples should have the choice to marry based on the spiritual, cultural, or religious meaning of marriage in their lives, asserts Polikoff. While marriage equality for same-sex couples is a civil rights victory, she contends that no one should have to marry in order to reap specific and unique legal results. A persuasive argument that married couples should not receive special rights denied to other families, Polikoff shows how the law can value all families, and why it must. "A much-needed intervention in the contemporary debate about marriage and family. Polikoff's argument is provocative, illuminating, and original." -John D'Emilio, author of Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin "Polikoff mobilizes an impressive array of legal history and contemporary court cases to show how marriage, whether same-sex or heterosexual, has ceased to be the only place where people incur long-term obligations. She argues vigorously that our society needs to find new ways of determining when legally-enforceable responsibilities and entitlements have accrued in interpersonal relationships." -Stephanie Coontz, author, Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage "This book really matters. It is brilliant and thoughtful, not simply about a set of laws, but as a manifesto to transform the way we understand, recognize and respect the reality of our diverse and complex family compositions. Polikoff grounds her arguments in the 35 year history of social change activism in this country to construct a passionate and nuanced argument for expanding our same sex marriage activism to include all of the ways people love, form families and build community." -Amber Hollibaugh, Senior Strategist, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and author of My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming her Way Home "Passionate but completely grounded in reality, Polikoff challenges LGBT rights advocates to see beyond gay equality arguments and question the fundamental fairness of limiting family recognition based on marriage, gay or straight. It is a powerful call for social justice." -Nan D. Hunter, founder of the American Civil Liberties Union Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School "A provocative and perspicuous intervention in one of the most devilish recent debates in U.S. law and politicshellip;In a principled yet pragmatic analysis, Polikoff mounts a compelling case against the continued grip of 'conjugalism'on our family law and policy. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage challenges us

Queer Activism After Marriage Equality focuses on the implications of legal same-sex marriage for LGBTQ social movements and organizing. It asks how the agendas, strategies, structures and financing of LGBTQ movement organizations are changing now that same-sex marriage is legal in some countries. Building on a major conference held in 2016 entitled "After Marriage: The Future of LGBTQ Politics and Scholarship," this collection draws from critical and intersectional perspectives to explore the questions and issues facing the next chapter of LGBTQ activism and social movement work. It comprises academic papers, international case studies, edited transcripts of selected conference sessions, and interviews with activists. These take a critical look at the high-profile work of national and state-wide equality organizations, analyzing the costs of winning marriage equality and what that has meant for other LGBTQ activism. In addition to this, the book examines other forms of queer activism that have existed for years in the shadows of the marriage equality movement, as well as new social movements that have developed more recently. Finally, it looks to examples of activism in other countries and considers lessons U.S. activists can learn from them. By presenting research on these and other trends, this volume helps translate queer critiques advanced during the marriage campaigns into a framework for ongoing critical research in the after-marriage period.

While legal recognition of marriage has met the needs of a segment of the LGBTQ population, many still face daily struggles with issues around housing, education, healthcare, policing and incarceration, and immigration. These are issues that were largely eclipsed in national arenas by the fight for marriage equality. In reaction to this, The Unfinished Queer Agenda After Marriage Equality examines the institutional failings and overlapping systems of injustice that continue to dehumanize queer and trans people and deprive them of basic human rights. Building on a major conference held in 2016 entitled "After Marriage: The Future of LGBTQ Politics and Scholarship", the editors have collected academic papers, edited transcripts of selected conference sessions, and interviews with activists. Drawing from this source material, the book argues that any queer agenda should be informed by an understanding that the issues facing queer and trans people come from the combined influence of neo-liberal capitalism, global white supremacy, and heterosexism. The authors argue that these modes of oppression continue to be especially damaging for poor people, undocumented people, people of color, non-binary, trans, and queer people. By taking an in-depth look at the myriad social issues that continue to affect LGBTQ communities, and by exposing systemic prejudices and inequality as the root cause, this title is an important intervention for students and researchers engaged with queer and trans activism, beyond the fight for marriage equality.

This book shows how the first lesbians to marry in the United States are using or avoiding the word wife at this historic juncture when the definition of marriage is undergoing a shift. It will interest the LGBTQ community and its allies, political activists, feminists, and scholars of sociology, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, and gender.

Many same-sex couples are stigmatized because of their relationship and experience significant stress. In every life context—family, work, neighborhood, religious communities, and in social and legal contexts—same-sex couples have to make decisions about disclosure, how to respond to prejudice, and how to cope with negative feelings about themselves and their experiences. This book helps couples work together to identify, develop, and use their strengths and skills to successfully navigate these issues and flourish. Tough tasks like confronting prejudice will never be easy, but thanks to the stories, tools, and resources presented in this book, readers will learn to manage such situations in a positive way. Learning activities in each chapter guide couples to become more aware of the causes of stress in their relationship, and to take positive actions to strengthen their commitment. Readers will learn how to cultivate the strengths of their LGBTQ identities, assert appropriate boundaries, create supportive relationships with others, and contribute authentically to their families and communities.