‘The Ties that Bind Us’: The Hidden Knots of Gay Marriage

Main Article Content

Bronwyn Winter

Abstract

Gay marriage has become a major transnational gay rights issue: a key marker of gay citizenship, to the extent that it is considered self-evident that its legalisation represents progress. Yet it is becoming apparent that this ‘progress’ is concurrent with other forms of exclusion. In this article, I argue that gay marriage is a convenient liberal smokescreen, leaving other exclusions unaddressed or even enabling their reinforcement. The discussion involves examination of three case studies: Argentina, the first Latin American country to legalise gay marriage in 2010; France, which legalised gay marriage in May, 2013; and Australia, which has not legalised gay marriage at the time of this writing.

Article Details

Section
Stigma and Exclusion in Cross-Cultural Contexts Special Issue January 2014 (Peer Reviewed)
Author Biography

Bronwyn Winter, University of Sydney

Bronwyn Winter is the current Chair of the Department of French Studies at the University of Sydney, author of Hijab and the Republic: Uncovering the French Headscarf Debate (Syracuse University Press 2008), and contributing co-editor of September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives (Spinifex 2002). Her research is located within the intersections and interactions of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, violence and the State in transnational contexts, particularly albeit not exclusively as concerns women of the French-speaking and Muslim worlds.