ABSTRACT
I now turn to the empirical analysis that forms the backbone of this book. Through analysis of the qualitative comments from a large-scale online survey of attitudes to the legal recognition of same-sex relationships, I argue that in discourse around the introduction of same-sex marriage and civil partnership, formal equality is prioritised and reified by lesbians and gay men. Further, I contend that lesbians and gay men have complex perspectives on the relationship between law and social change. Finally, I argue that rights discourse and citizenship claims are common in lesbian and gay attitudes to the legal recognition of their relationships. I demonstrate that the ‘right to marry’ is seen by many as an important indicator of lesbian and gay human rights. I further argue that citizenship claims both facilitate the normalisation and assimilation of lesbians and gay men into heteronormative society and simultaneously draw attention to legalised forms of discrimination. Throughout this analysis, I weave the theoretical approaches outlined
in previous chapters into the empirical analysis. I argue that working my three ‘types’ of resistance (stabilising resistance, moderating resistance and fracturing resistance) into the ‘against the law’ category helps legal consciousness studies to be sensitive to the specific issues raised by sexuality. I demonstrate, through my analysis of the data presented here, that stabilising and moderating forms of resistance are drawn on by lesbians and gay men in their attitudes to, and engagement with, issues around the legal recognition of relationships.
