For better or worse: Exploring the meanings of same-sex marriage within the lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgendered community

Abstract

This study examines how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) men and women assign meaning to legally recognized same-sex marriage and its impact on their understanding of the LGBT community. Open-ended web-based survey questions asked participants (N = 288) to consider the ways in which legally recognizing same-sex marriage may positively and negatively affect the LGBT community. The understanding of legally recognized same-sex marriage that emerges is multilayered, with an overarching theme of equality forming a surface over deeper dialectical themes describing tensions in the perceived influence of same-sex marriage on same-sex romantic relationships, the LGBT community, and the relationship between the LGBT community and heterosexual others. The findings of the study suggest that same-sex marriage should be considered as a context for all future discussions of married and unmarried same-sex partnerships.

Keywords

dialectics gay and lesbian relationships same-sex marriage

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adelman, M. B. , & Frey, L. R. (1997). The fragile community: Living together with AIDS. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .

Alderson, K. , & Lahey, K. A. (2004). Same-sex marriage: The personal and the political. New York: Insomniac Press .

Argyle, M. , & Henderson, M. (1984). The rules of friendship . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 211-237 .

Attridge, M. (1994). Barriers to the dissolution of romantic relationships. In D. J. Canary & L. Stafford (Eds.), Communication and relational maintenance (pp. 141-164). San Diego, CA: Academic Press .

Auerbach, C. F. , & Silverstein, L. B. (2003). Qualitative data: An introduction to coding and analysis. New York: New York University Press .

Baxter, L. A. , Dun, T. , & Sahlstein, E. (2001). Rules for relating communicated among social network members . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18, 173-199 .

Baxter, L. A. , & Montgomery, B. M. (1996). Relating: Dialogues and dialectics. New York: Guilford Press .

Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .

DiPlacido, J. (1998). Minority stress among lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals: A consequent of heterosexism, homophobia, and stigmatization. In G. M. Herek (Ed.), Stigma and sexual orientation: Understanding prejudice against lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (pp. 138-159). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .

10.

Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. SJC-08860, November 18, 2003.

11.

Haley-Banez, L. , & Garrett, J. (2002). Lesbians in committed relationships: Extraordinary couples, ordinary lives. New York: Hayworth Press .

12.

Human Rights Campaign (n.d.). Marriage. Available [accessed 2 September 2004]: http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Center&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=63&ContentID=15110.

13.

Johnson, M. P. (1982). Social and cognitive features of the dissolution of commitment to relationships. In S. Duck (Ed.), Personal relationships 4: Dissolving personal relationships (pp. 51-74). London: Academic Press .

14.

Lincoln, Y. S. , & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage .

15.

MassEquality (n.d.). No discrimination in the constitution. Available [accessed 8 June 2004] http://www.massequality.org/.

16.

Miles, M. B. , & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .

17.

Meyer, J. (1990). Guess who’s coming to dinner this time? A study of gay intimate relationships and the support of those relationships . Journal of Homosexuality, 16, 59-82 .

18.

Oswald, R. F. (2000). A member of the wedding? Heterosexism and family ritual . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 349-368 .

19.

Oswald, R. F. (2002). Who am I in relation to them? Gay, lesbian, and queer people leave the city to attend rural family weddings . Journal of Family Studies, 23, 323-348 .

20.

Paul, E. L. , & Hayes, K. A. (2002). The casualties of ‘casual’ sex: A qualitative exploration of the phenomenology of college students’ hookups . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19, 639-661 .

21.

Parks, M. R. , & Eggert, L. L. (1991). The role of context in the dynamics of personal relationships. In W. H. Jones & D. Perlman (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships (pp. 1-34). London: Jessica Kingsley .

22.

Peplau, L. A. , & Cochran, S. D. (1981). Value orientations in the intimate relationships of gay men . Journal of Homosexuality, 6, 1-9 .

23.

Purcell, D. W. (1998). Current trends in same-sex marriage. In R. J. Cabaj & D. W. Purcell (Eds.), On the road to same-sex marriage: A supportive guide to psychological, political and legal issues (pp. 29-40). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .

24.

Slater, S. (1995). The lesbian family life cycle. New York: Free Press .

25.

Stearns, D. C. , & Sabini, J. (1997). Dyadic adjustment and community involvement in same-sex couples . Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Identity, 2, 265-283 .

26.

Strauss, A. , & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative analysis. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .

27.

Stiers, G. (1999). From this day forward: Commitment, marriage, and family in lesbian and gay relationships. New York: St. Martin’s Press .

28.

Surra, C. A. , & Perlman, D. (2003). Introduction: The many faces of context . Personal Relationships, 10, 1350-1426 .

29.

Woolwine, D. (2000). Community in gay male experience and moral discourse . Journal of Homosexuality, 38, 5-37 .

30.

Yep, G. A. , Lovaas, K. E. , & Elia, J. P. (2003). A critical appraisal of assimilationist and radical ideologies underlying same-sex marriage in LGBT communities in the United States . Journal of Homosexuality, 45, 45-64 .