LGBT & Q Families

1. LGBT & Q Families Family Sociology

2. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q • Sexual identity is a new concept • Medical model remained dominant until 1973 when homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association • Not surprisingly such a definition fueled discrimination and prejudice

3. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families The new discourse on gay families emerges from the same cultural trends that have led to the weakening of marriage as a social institution the growth of individualism the separation of sex from marriage

4. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • Sexuality has become more private • This has partially due to the passage of two supreme court rulings 1) Griswold vs. the State of Connecticut – 1965 • Ruling states that a state law prohibiting the use of contraceptives violated marital privacy by allowing police to search the “sacred precincts of marital bedrooms.”

5. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families 2) Eisenstadt vs. Baird - 1972 • Laws prohibiting the sale of contraceptives to unmarried persons is overturned • "it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision to whether to bear or beget a child."

6. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • So increased right to privacy for married couples and then non-married couples leads to greater acceptance of same-sex relationships • Increased right to privacy

7. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • First some definitions • The use of Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Gay & Queer (LGBT & Q) is meant as a way of referring to and being inclusive of many alternative sexual identities • The Q for Queer comes out of Queer Theory • Queer theory is a viewpoint that purposely chose the term “QUEER”, a term that until recently was derogatory and negative • Queer theorists are attempting to challenge conventional understanding of sexuality and give homosexuality a positive spin • See Cherlin chapter 6, on Queer Theory

8. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • Lindsay Van Gelder describes marriage as a “restricted club” • Over time and across cultures there have always been restrictions on who could marry • It was only after the civil war that African-Americans were allowed to marry in all areas of the U.S • It was only after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1967 that mixed race couples could marry anywhere in the U.S.

9. Why do lesbian or gay partners want to get married?

10. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • Why do lesbian or gay partners want to get married? • Because there are real dollar and cents benefits to being married • Although we think about people getting married because they love each other, married couples also accrue legal and practical advantages as well.

11. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/your-money/03money.html?_r=2&hp

12. Practical and financial advantages available to married couples that are not available to domestic partners • Spouses can be designated as beneficiaries for insurance or pension plans • Spouses can purchase health insurance for each other through their employers • They can receive social security survivors benefits • They can give legal permission for their children to schools, doctors etc.

13. Practical and financial advantages available to married couples that are not available to domestic partners • They can adopt children together • They can be the next of kin for hospital visitation or in the event of death • If spouses divorce, they are both legally entitled to half the worth of the family • They can gain citizenship for their spouse through marriage • If a spouse dies, the surviving spouse is legally entitled to the inheritance (if not otherwise spec’d)

14. Gay Marriage and civil unions by State • http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-gmtimeline-fl,0,5345296.htmlstory • Roll your mouse over each state and you get a short history of legal issues on gay marriage

15. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • Several U.S states and cities allowed/allow gay and lesbian couples to register their committed relationship • They can gain some benefits • But in most states gay couples do not have all of the advantages that opposite-gender couples automatically acquire when they marry. • Gay marriage is legal in Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont & Washington D.C. • Same-sex marriage has the backing of prominent Pacific Northwest business including: Microsoft Corp, Nike Inc. and Starbucks

16. Gay Marriage in California? Yes or No? • Forced divorce? • http://vimeo.com/3089746 • Gay marriage was OVERTURNED so all people who were married are now unmarried under California law • Then on February 7, 2012 a higher court rules that it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL to ban gay marriage • Now the issue will go before he Supreme Court • http://www.npr.org/2012/02/08/146563120/calif-ban-on-gay-marriage-ruled-unconstitutional

17. Debate over same-sex marriage • Recent legislation in Massachusetts says that separate rarely means equal • Court had ruled that civil unions would be legal in the state – but last year argued that only gay marriages would be constitutional • "The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal," the four justices who ruled in favor of gay marriage wrote in the advisory opinion. A bill that would allow for civil unions, but falls short of marriage, makes for "unconstitutional, inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples." • http://articles.cnn.com/2004-02-04/justice/gay.marriage_1_marriage-by-court-order-civil-unions-massachusetts-high-court?_s=PM:LAW

18. Alternative Family FormsLBGT & Q Families • During the summer of 2011, New York State legalized gay marriage • Gay marriage signed into law in Washington State in February 2012 • Meanwhile in New Jersey… • The New Jersey Assembly voted to approve same-sex marriage in NJ on Thursday, February 23, 2012 • NJ Governor Chris Christie has vowed to veto the bill – saying he believes it should be voted on as a referendum on the November ballot • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/new-jersey-gay-marriage-bill-chris-christie_n_1282997.html

19. Summary • Summary • Sexual identity is a new concept • As sexuality became more private and as sex is separated from marriage – gay/lesbian families have emerged • Data on gay families is hard to find and interpret • Gay families are seeking the same dollar and cents benefits that accrue to married couple families and increasingly cohabiting partners • Gay marriage is becoming legal on a state-by-state basis