Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Using Queer Theory

This essay is a debate about the legalization based on the Queer Theory and focusing on use focus on heteronormativity and heterosexuality. This debate is a discussion of the various perspectives on the legalization of the same-sex marriages as an area of concern in social work.

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The debate about Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Using Queer Theory
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The debate about Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Using Queer Theory
Introduction
The issue of legalization of same-sex marriages has been a concern for so many people in
the modern society among both the gays and the straight. Different people have diverse
perspective on this topic and it has raised a debate on this issue with both sides viewing the
institution of marriage differently (Henwood, 2014). Some states in the United States of America
such as California had recognized same-sex marriages in the society. Voters in California voted
on Proposition 8 on the 4Th of November 2008 and this overturned the same-sex marriage that
had been accepted in that State. Before the legalization of same-sex marriages had not been
overturned there was a very hot debate concerning what were the implications of this law on
Californian couples and the impact of same-sex marriage on the institution of marriage. Gay
relationships and specific gay marriage have been a political social thought since the passage of
DOMA in 1996 and the I993 Baehr v. Lewin decision in Hawaii. This essay is a debate about the
legalization based on the Queer Theory and focusing on use focus on heteronormativity and
heterosexuality. This debate is a discussion of the various perspectives on the legalization of the
same-sex marriages as an area of concern in social work.
Discussion
Positioning Heterosexuality in Contemporary Queer Studies
After the passage of Proposition 8 in California, same-sex marriage was banned in this
state. This was a big blow to the LGBT movement and this triggered them to divert their
resources and attention to the federal and state campaign for marriage equality. This has led to a
debate by queer theorists and queer activists (Few‐Demo et al, 2016). They are concerned in the
issue of whether or not the LGBT movement should focus a lot of its resources and efforts on an

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objective or goal then it is believed to be impossible by the moderates while radicals consider it
to be out of step with the "radical agenda" of gay liberationists and queer theorists. "Although
marriage equality has been advocated by national LGBT organizations for well over a decade,
there is a difference between supporting the principle of marriage equality and actually choosing
to be married," noted Taylor. Same-sex activities believe that same-sex marriage was a complete
political impossibility at some point of time in the society especially during the era where LGBT
individuals could not even openly declare their sexual orientation.
Queer activities believe that the legalization of same-sex marriages will give LGBT
families and couples the encouragement to imitate the male-dominance structured heterosexual
marriages and families (Coates, 2018). Legalizing same-sex marriages will increase the number
of same-sex marriages in the society and this will pose a major threat to queer theorists since it
can end the distinctive queer society and identity. However, advocates for same-sex marriages
argue that these predictions have not been realized in the few places where same-sex marriages
have been legalized.
The main reason why the debate on same-sex marriages is appealing is that legalization
of the same-sex marriages will guarantee lesbians and gays a shortcut to enjoy social and legal
benefits associated with the legalization (Gallop, 2015). However, my main concern is that the
struggle and efforts to legalize same-sex marriage may be shortsighted. Considering the part of
progressive thinkers, there is lack of a clear outline of the privileges bestowed on marriage.
According to conservatives, it is clear that marriage should be rewarded. The number of
people marrying in the US has drastically reduced by roughly 50% since the early 1960's. On the
other hand, the numbers of marriages that have ended due to divorce have increased by roughly
50 %. Continuous transformation in our society, the increase in the acceptability and

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effectiveness of contraception methods, the increasing financial independence of women among
many other factors can be associated to the rapid increase in divorce and decline in the number
of marriages. Other factors that could possibly be the reason this emerging trend in marriages
includes the obedience to authority, individual choice, pleasure as well as personal freedom.
Conservatives have shown their concerns about this emerging trend in marriages and they
believe that making marriages to be privileged is going to increase the importance of the
marriage institution. They suggest that marriage is worthy of reward since heterosexual marriage
is healthy for both women and men and allows an optimum development environment for
children. They base their suggestion on the fact that research done across the United States
shows that married couples are more psychologically and physically better off compared to
single people. Also, the children living with married couples are more emotionally and
physically better off compared to those living with divorced parents or singles. However, a
critical and comprehensive of such research does not clearly prove that marriages make people or
children better off (McNicholas, Smith and Tyler, 2017). There are other external factors such as
the discord experience by divorced families, the parental stress and the higher rates of poverty.
The other argument raised by conservatives is that marriage act as a tool to tame and
contain the sexual behavior and urges of people and this helps in taming and creating a civilized
society. The society should put mechanisms in place to provide punishment for noncompliance
as well as incentives for compliance so as to successfully limit the sexual behaviors in
heterosexual marriages (Winter, Forest and Sénac, 2018). Historically, both Christianity and
federal and state government has tried to limit sexuality activities that are not procreative both
within marriages and outside marriage. Initially, a state government had the authority to prevent
married couples from using contraceptives but this changed in 1965 after the decision made in

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Griswold v. Connecticut. However, conservative Christians in the society still condemn all forms
of non-procreative sexual activities even within marriages.
Just like conservatives, the advocates of same-sex marriage have always stressed on the
prospective psychological and physical benefits of legal same-sex marriage to lesbians and gays.
The argument that is mostly repeated in this debate of legalizing same-sex marriage is that the
advocates insist that lesbians and gays deserve to access same privileges and rights that the
married heterosexuals have been provided with. However, the advocates have not come out to
say whether the privileging they are fighting for is legitimate or fair. In the early days of the fight
for gay rights, the activists were against the restrictive norms of marriage, however, this fight is
losing dominance in media coverage. For the people who care for personal freedom and social
justice should be concerned by the debate of legalizing same-sex marriages.
The Institution of Marriage
The general and most common perception of marriage is a union between a man and a
woman with intimate relations (Gates, 2015). Arguments have been raised that the definition of
marriage is discriminatory in the sense that marriage is meant for people who are not related,
they need to be adults and the two must be exclusive to each other in the relationship. Therefore
we can realize that the institution of marriage is discriminatory towards underage, polygamy and
incest. Same-sex activities have come out to argue that the institution of marriage in the society
is not really clearly defined as it neglects other sexual orientations such as the LGBT individuals.
The activities suggest that people should not blindly accept traditional definitions but they should
embrace personal freedom and sexual orientation is one of the personal freedoms.

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Questioning the Privileging of Marriage
On the basis of queer theory, the social control is maintained through imposing the norm
of heterosexual monogamous marriage and condemning the individuals who do not adhere to
this norm. This is a perspective that is unanimously agreed upon by the religion, political leaders,
the medical sector and queer theorists. As opposed to the conservatives who think the marriage
privileges are intended to benefit children and preserve families, queer theorists believe that the
main reason for privileging marriage is to legitimize and reward particular sexual behaviors and
relationships and stigmatize and marginalize other behaviors and relationships. Therefore the
process of marginalizing and penalizing an individual who does not comply to the sexual norms
in the case the lesbians and gays by limiting their access to certain privileges and rights such as
enjoying affordable healthcare as the heterosexual married people is one way of maintaining an
oppressive social control.
The question that arises is that, are those who cannot find a partner or who choose not to
limit their sexual behavior or relationships to marriage less worthy of affordable health care than
those who are married? There is an argument that the current system in the society is a caste
system of married individuals against single and LGBT individuals. The singles and LGBT
people in the society are denied certain privileges such as health care insurance as well as forced
to suffer stigma and marginalization in a culture that is mainly family oriented. Legalizing same-
sex marriage will potentially replicate and perpetuate the inequalities lesbians and gays are
experiencing in the society.
Almost everybody wants to marry and should be able to marry if they wish to. Therefore
the lesbians and gay people argue that they should also be allowed to marry. People who care
about personal freedom and social justice should be able to recognize the unfairness that the

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existing institution of marriage rather than blindly adopt and accept the sexual and relationship
norms that have been established in the society. The lesbians and gays argue that sexuality can
be expressed in various forms and that it is not fair to just select one form of sexual expression
and reward it while frustrating all the other existing forms. Every individual should be entitled to
social security benefits and affordable health care program among other privileges and rights
regardless of whether they are single, married, partnered, and gay or lesbians. Therefore apart
from the right to marry, there are other reasons or arguments that should make psychologists and
other individuals who are concerned with social justice should use as their basis to support the
legalization of same-sex marriages.
Possible Impact of Legalizing Same-sex Marriages
.In order to understand the potential impact of legalizing same-sex marriage, we have to
have a keen analysis of places where same-sex marriages have existed for sometimes. Canada is
one of such places in the world where same-sex marriage was legalized long ago and we can use
it to assess this legalization. Adam Isaiah who is a sociology professor at the University of
Toronto did an analysis of Canada in relation to same-sex marriages and came up with a report.
He reported that same-sex marriages tend to be more equal with the decision-making process,
control of finances, the division of household labor and negotiations of sexual fidelity is
negotiated between spouses. This is in contrast to heterosexual marriages where sexual fidelity is
mainly based on the traditional sexual characteristic norms of matrimonial monogamy.
Same-sex marriages seem to encourage relationships that imitate the conventional marriages but
they demonstrate significant differences from the heterosexual marriages that are mostly male-
dominated. The traditionally established sexual norms of heterosexual marriages have been
repugnant not only to the LGBT activists but also the queer activists. Some individuals have

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argued that same-sex marriages are most beneficial to the two individuals participating in it (that
is the LGBT couple) but legalizing this marriage will deprive the children the opportunity to be
raised by a biological father and a mother as the case with heterosexual marriages (Ghaziani,
Taylor, and Stone, 2016). Heterosexual families are considered as a normal unit where children
are to be born and raised since this marriage relationship provides a biological father and mother,
stability and nurtures family love. There are so many benefits associated with biological
parenting found in heterosexual marriages and therefore legalizing the same-sex marriages will
deprive some children these benefits. However, some same-sex marriages are challenging this
traditional belief in the instance where some gay parents have demonstrated very good parenting
to their adopted children. In most of the countries which allow same-sex marriages the couples
are also legalized to adopt children or use the surrogacy and IVF treatment techniques.
There is speculation that legalizing same-sex marriages will change the basic fabric of the
society. The heterosexual marriage results into biological children forming the family which is
the basic unit in the society. The heterosexual family is where children are natured and raised by
their biological parents and legalizing same-sex marriages will destroy this well-established
fabric of our society. However, same-sex activists have come out to oppose this social structure
and argue that just because the same-sex marriages are not common or traditional does not imply
that they are wrong. They also claim that the so-called fabric of the society is nowhere close to
perfect with the increasing cases of divorces and other challenges associated with the family.
In queer theory, heterosexuality concerns have been explored by researchers and scholars
to help shade more insight on sexual categories, cross sexualities and same-sex marriages. The
queer theorists and activities have greatly contributed to the debate on legalizing same-sex

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marriages and homosexuality laws. The activists have based their focus on the privileges and
benefit that heterosexual couples enjoy in marriage in relation to same-sex marriage.
Conclusion
Different people have diverse perspective on the legalization of same-sex marriages and
it has raised a debate over this issue with both sides viewing the institution of marriage
differently. Queer theory can be used to explain the difference in perspective between LGBT
individuals and heterosexuals in the modern society. On the basis of queer theory, the social
control is maintained through imposing the norm of heterosexual monogamous marriage and
condemning the individuals who do not adhere to this norm. This is a perspective that is
unanimously agreed upon by the religion, political leaders, the medical sector and queer
theorists. As opposed to the conservatives who think the marriage privileges are intended to
benefit children and preserve families, queer theorists believe that the main reason for privileging
marriage is to legitimize and reward particular sexual behaviors and relationships and stigmatize
and marginalize other behaviors and relationships. There are opposing perspectives on the topic
of legalization of same-sex marriages and this should be a concern for individuals who are
concerned with social justice and personal freedom.

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References
Coates, K., 2018. Queer Theory: The French Response by Bruno Perreau. QED: A Journal in
GLBTQ Worldmaking, 5(1), pp.155-157.
Few‐Demo, A.L., Humble, A.M., Curran, M.A. and Lloyd, S.A., 2016. Queer Theory,
Intersectionality, and LGBT‐Parent Families: Transformative Critical Pedagogy in Family
Theory. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8(1), pp.74-94.
Gallop, J., 2015. The View from Queer Theory. AgeCultureHumanities: An Interdisciplinary
Journal, 2.
Gates, G.J., 2015. Marriage and family: LGBT individuals and same-sex couples. The Future of
Children, 25(2), pp.67-87.
Ghaziani, A., Taylor, V. and Stone, A., 2016. Cycles of sameness and difference in LGBT social
movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 42, pp.165-183.
Henwood, K., 2014. Qualitative research. Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, pp.1611-1614.
McNicholas Smith, K. and Tyler, I., 2017. Lesbian brides: post-queer in popular culture.
Feminist Media Studies, 17(3), pp.315-331.
Winter, B., Forest, M. and Sénac, R., 2018. Introduction. In Global Perspectives on Same-Sex
Marriage (pp. 1-18). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.