Gay and Lesbian 'Marriage': an Exploration of the Meanings and Significance of Legitimating Same Sex Relationships, 2003-2006
Creators: name: Smart, C.
name: Mason, J.
Publisher: name: UK Data Service
Year: 2008

description: This qualitative study explores the area of lesbian and gay 'marriage' and civil partnerships. The objective was to examine the socio-legal, cultural and familial meanings and significance for lesbians and gay men of seeking public or formal recognition of relationships. This means examining the kinds of ceremonies couples hold (e.g. with religious elements or not), who they invite (e.g. families of origin or just friends), and whether they follow conventions such as the exchange of rings or whether they adopt radically different styles of ceremony. It also examined how parents and close kin respond to the marriage/registration (e.g. whether there is an exacerbation of or a reduction in feelings of disapproval) and also how the wider kinship network is affected.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; Its specific aims were: &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;to establish why lesbians and gay men may want to register their partnerships or have commitment ceremonies&lt;li&gt;to ascertain how full marriage is regarded&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;to identify the kinds of ceremonies that are/will be chosen to celebrate commitment&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;to explore what meanings are given to such rituals&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;to explore how wider kin respond to the marriage/registration&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;to consider how embeddedness (or otherwise) in wider kin networks is influenced by these legitimation ceremonies&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;to explore understandings of the legal implications of both partnership registration and of 'real' marriage&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;The study was based on in-depth interviews with same-sex couples. Fifty-four interviews were conducted: 37 with couples and 17 with individuals, giving a total 91 interviewees. Of these, 61 were women and 30 were men. The majority of interviewees were between 30 and 49 and some couples had been together thirty years or more. All except one respondents described themselves as white (mainly White British, White English, etc.) and the sample was disproportionately 'middle class' (a ratio of 8:1) taking into account factors of education level, the nature of employment and housing tenure. Just under a half (45 per cent) described themselves as having a faith or being part of a particular church congregation. All the respondents had already held some form of commitment ceremony/partnership registration or were planning one in the near future. The study was carried out before Civil Partnership (CP) was legally available so the couples interviewed (with the exception of 4 who had married abroad) were devising their own commitment ceremonies, or registering their relationships with local authorities. Once Civil Partnership was introduced participants were asked if they planned to do this as well and they all intended to do so. Feelings about whether the term marriage should be available to homosexual couples as well as raising questions about why a seemingly heterosexual institution remains important to homosexuals were also subsequently explored.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; The interview schedule was open-ended (except for gathering information on basic data like date of birth or occupation) and covered topics from how the couple originally met, the type of ceremony they had organised or were planning, to how their friends and families of origin had reacted to the knowledge of their ceremony.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; Respondents were recruited through a number of different sources, the lesbian and gay press, lesbian and gay organisations, and leafleting at gay venues and events. The majority of respondents were part of local networks. Some belonged to local or national lesbian and gay organisations. However, most were not strongly political.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; Further information about the study is available from the project's site, &lt;a href="http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/research/gay-lesbian-marriage/" title="Gay and Lesbian Marriage"&gt;Gay and Lesbian 'Marriage'&lt;/a&gt; or the project's &lt;a href="http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/ViewAwardPage.aspx?awardnumber=RES-000-23-0418" title="Gay and Lesbian 'Marriage' ESRC Award page"&gt;ESRC award page&lt;/a&gt;