Abstract
Chile’s Marriage Equality Law (Law No. 21,400) expanded legal recognition for same-sex couples, yet questions remain regarding how diverse forms of parenting are recognized within its framework. This study aims to analyze how same-sex parent families and their parenting occupations are discursively constructed in the law’s legislative history. A qualitative document analysis was conducted using Bacchi’s What’s the Problem Represented to Be? approach in dialogue with Critical Discourse Analysis, examining statutory text, parliamentary debates, and policy documents. While the law broadens access to marriage and specific forms of legally recognized parenting, inclusion is partial. Key areas—such as filiation, adoption, assisted reproduction, and nonmarital families—remain restricted or unaddressed, reproducing forms of occupational injustice. Parenting is shaped by legal and discursive frameworks, and critical policy analysis helps reveal how these frameworks produce occupational injustice across diverse family contexts.
Plain Language Summary
Raising children is not only a personal or family experience. It also depends on laws, rules, and political decisions that organize social life. This study examines how Chile’s Marriage Equality Law, approved in 2021, addresses families with same-sex parents and what consequences this has for their everyday lives. Rather than focusing on individual experiences, the study reviewed public documents, including the law’s text, congressional debates, and other official materials. The aim was to understand how these political discourses define which families are recognized and which forms of parenting are fully protected by the state. The findings show that the law represents an important step forward, as it allows same-sex couples to marry and access certain rights related to parenting. However, this recognition is not complete. Key issues such as adoption, the legal recognition of both parents in all cases, assisted reproduction, and families who are not married remain unclear or are directly excluded. This means that although many families raise and care for their children in everyday life, they do not always have legal support to make important decisions in areas such as health care, education, or social protection. In this way, laws influence daily activities—indirectly but very concretely—such as caring, accompanying, deciding, and protecting. This study is relevant for professionals, policymakers, and families because it shows that laws do more than recognize rights on paper: they can also enable or constrain everyday life. Understanding this relationship helps identify persistent inequalities and supports efforts toward greater inclusion and equity for all families.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.