Title: From sodomy laws to same-sex marriage : international perspectives since 1789 /
Authors: Brady, Sean, 1964-; Seymour, Mark
Year: 2019
Subjects: Homosexuality History; Homosexuality Law and legislation; Homosexuality Public opinion.; Homosexuality; Homosexuality Law and legislation; Homosexuality Public opinion
Abstract: Inspired by recent adoptions of same-sex marriage, From Sodomy Laws to Same-Sex Marriage provides international perspectives on the legal and social history of same-sex relationships from the early 19th century to the present. Its emphasis is on areas where the impetus for change has been most noticeable: Europe, the Americas, and Australasia. From Sodom and Gomorrah to Britain's sodomy laws and continental Europe's abhorrence of sexual acts 'against nature', the history of same-sex love traditionally ranged from fire and brimstone maledictions to secrecy and scandal. Until recently, legal positions across the western world reflected the legacies of the British and French empires, as well as Christianity, particularly Catholicism. In recent years, however, there has been a revolution in attitudes towards same-sex relationships. This poses hitherto unanswered questions: what historical complexities lie behind the revolutionary shift from punitive attitudes to legal endorsement of same-sex relationships? Given the cultural variety of historical attitudes to same-sex relationships, why has their legal acceptance been so international? The essays in this volume provide answers to these questions, offering the first international overview of the topic. While other studies have attempted to explain the change in legal and social treatment of same-sex relationships in a national context, or within a shorter time frame, this is the first volume to examine the topic from the French Revolution to the present day, bringing together a diverse array of perspectives over a range of countries. It is an important volume for students and scholars of queer history, the history of sexuality, law and sociology.
Contents: List of figures -- Acknowledgments -- Notes on contributors -- Foreword. From sodomy laws to same-sex marriage: historical transformations / Sean Brady and Mark Seymour-- Same-sex sexual relations and the French Revolution: the decriminalization of sodomy in 1791 / Bryant T. Ragan, Jr. -- Arguing against intolerance: Louisiana and Britain in the early nineteenth century / Charles Upchurch -- Regarding Pratt and Smith, the last couple of sodomites to be hanged in Britain / Dominic Janes -- Defining "unnatural crime": sex and the English convict system, 1950-1900 / Ben Bethell -- "It is my husband who has such weaknesses": a mid-nineteenth-century Peruvian divorce case / Magally Alegre Henderson -- Flappers and felons: rethinking the criminal law and homosex in interwar Australia, 1920-1939 / Yorick Smaal and Mark Finnane -- Spain from Franco's repressive regime to same-sex marriage / Geoffroy Huard -- Affecting legal change: law and same-sex feelings in West Germany since the 1950s -- The sexual (geo)politics of loyalty: homosexuality and emotion in cold war security policy / Kate Davison -- Homosexual politics in the British world: toward a transnational understanding / Graham Willett -- Gender and the politics of marriage in postwar Australia and Britain / Rebecca Jennings -- From Giarre to civil unions: the "long march" for same-sex relationships in Italy / Yuri Guaiana and Mark Seymour -- "It's poppycock to say homosexuals can be excused": rethinking the gay and lesbian movement in the Republic of Ireland, 1970s-1990s / Patrick McDonagh -- " ... Do you want more?": a brief history of same-sex partnerships, family formations, and marriage in twentieth-century United States / Marcia M. Gallo -- Gay marriage in England: after the party / Daniel Monk -- Same-sex unions: in retrospect and prospect / Robert Aldrich -- Index.