ABSTRACT
Chapters two, three and four set the socio-political and theoretical context for this book. I outlined the tumultuous relationship between schools and LGBT-Q identification and highlighted key features in the emergence of same-sex marriage across contexts. I also explicated how theories of power, agency, affect, embodiment, identification, attachment and social change can be put to work in exploring the ever-changing contours of sexuality, schooling and legitimacy. In this and the following three chapters, Civil Partnership (CP) provides a lens through which to capture the minutiae of how new sexuality norms and modes of legitimacy are negotiated in a time of flux. To do this, I employ a selection of theoretical tools in a comprehensive discussion of the experiences of LGBT-Q teachers as they entered into a CP in Ireland. First, this chapter addresses the normalisation imperative that underpins the LGBT-Q political turn to CP and then marriage in Ireland. Drawing on the perspectives of key advocates, I outline the ambivalences of such strategic approaches and the specifics of this particular moment of flux in Irish society, setting the scene for inquiry into the lived experiences of LGBT-Q teachers in chapters six, seven and eight.
