glbtq: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture
home
arts
literature
social sciences
special features
discussion
about glbtq
   search
  
 
   Encyclopedia
   Discussion
 
 
   member name
  
   password
  
 
   
   Forgot Your Password?  
   
Not a Member Yet?  
   
JOIN TODAY. IT'S FREE!

 
 
  glbtq Books
  Advertising Opportunities

  Press Kit

  Permissions & Licensing

  Terms of Service

  Privacy Policy

  Copyright

 

 

Special Features Index  

 
Spotlight Marriage and Family
 
While glbtq people have formed unions, partnerships, de facto marriages, and many kinds of families for generations, one of the greatest shifts in the history of the family began in the 1990s when queer families began to insist more vocally that they receive the same societal benefits as traditional families.
 
 
 
Femme-femme cake topper from gayweddings.com
A cottage industry has arisen to provide products, such as this wedding cake topper from gayweddings.com, to support same-sex marriage
 
 
 
  Adolescents depend on their families economically and socially. A homosexual youth's positive or negative identity is largely determined by the parent-child relationships the youth experiences during adolescence.  
 
 
  Adoption is an important way in which lesbian and gay couples create families, though there are frequently social and legal barriers to overcome.  
 
 
  Artificial Insemination is often used by lesbians and heterosexual single women who wish to conceive without sexual contact with males and is frequently the method of choice when gay men create families through surrogacy or co-parenting.  
 
 
  Boston Marriages--romantic unions between women that were usually monogamous but not necessarily sexual--flourished in the late nineteenth-century between women who tended to be college-educated, feminist, financially independent, and career-minded.  
 
 
  Vermont's Civil Union law confers all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities of marriage on same-sex couples.  
 
 
  Same-sex Commitment Ceremonies are similar to heterosexual weddings. They are legally recognized in some countries, but generally not in the United States.  
 
 
  Domestic Partnership is the generic term for a variety of forms of legal and institutional recognition of same-sex couples that fall short of same-sex marriage.  
 
 
  Many glbtq people reject a fixed definition of Family imposed by society, while others insist their intimate relationships are the same as traditional marriages.  
 
 
  The plight of Sharon Kowalski (b. 1947) and Karen Thompson (b. 1956) brought into sharp focus an issue that many able-bodied gay men and lesbians had never considered: the importance of giving legal status to their chosen families.  
 
 
  New Right groups, along with the Roman Catholic hierarchy and Evangelical Christians, are the most vocal and visible opponents of same-sex marriage.  
 
 
  While Parenting has risen in importance in glbtq communities as queer families have become more visible, glbtq people have been parents throughout history.  
 
 
  Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), an American organization of some 460 affiliated chapters and 80,000 members, works to support glbtq people and their loved ones.  
 
 
  Same-Sex Marriage has been a goal of glbtq activists and communities since the dawn of the modern lesbian and gay civil rights movement. Despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage has been slow in the United States.  
 
 
  Sexual Citizenship is a concept that draws attention to all kinds of social exclusions that various sexual communities experience including the denial of marriage rights.  
 
 
  Photo Credits:  The "femme-femme" cake topper provided by gayweddings.com was photographed by Pettersen Associates.  
 
 

 
  Newsletter
 

 
Sign up for glbtq's free newsletter to receive a spotlight on GLBT culture every month.
 

e-mail address



 
privacy policy
 unsubscribe

 
 
 

www.glbtq.com is produced by glbtq, Inc.,
1130 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL   60607 glbtq™ and its logo are trademarks of glbtq, Inc.
This site and its contents Copyright © 2002-2007, glbtq, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
Your use of this site indicates that you accept its Terms of Service.