Same-Sex Relationships

Question 1

what are the trends?

Answer 1

Stonewall - LGBTQ+ campaign est. 5-7% of adult pop today are in same sex relationships

Question 2

reasons for same sex relationships

Answer 2

legal changes, decline in stigma, secularisation

Question 3

legal changes

Answer 3

•male homosexual acts were decriminalised in 1967 for consenting adults over 21
•more recently, the age of consent has been equalised with heterosexuals
•2002 gay couples have had the same right to adopt as married couples
•civil partnerships act came into effect 2004 these gave same-sex couples similar legal rights to married couples in respect of pensions inheritance and property
•2014 same sex couples are now able to legally marry in the UK

Question 4

decline in stigma

Answer 4

•opinion polls show an increase in tolerance of homosexuality over time
•232,000 same sex couples 2015, 182,000 2018
•more socially acceptable

Question 5

secularisation

Answer 5

•increasing secularisation - it is not a sin to be homosexual as sacred texts state
•2014 first gay marriage took place in a church

Question 6

are homosexual relationships and families similar or different to heterosexual ones?

Answer 6

SIMILAR
•Weeks sees gays as creating families based on the idea of ‘friendship as kinship’ where friendships become a type of kinship network - ‘chosen familes’ have the same security and stability as heterosexual families
•increase in social acceptance could explain how gay relationships resemble straight ones.
•Weston - same sex cohab is ‘quasi-marriage’, many gay couples are now deciding to cohabit as stable partners - contrasts with the gay lifestyle in the 70s which rejected monogamy and family life in favour of casual sexual relationships

Question 7

are homosexual relationships and families similar or different to heterosexual ones?

Answer 7

DIFFERENT
•Allan and Crow - bc of absense of legal framework until now, same sex couples have had to negotiate their commitment and responsibilities more than married straight ones. may have made same sex couples less stable and more flexible than straight ones
•Einasdottir - some gay couples worry legal partnership or marriage may limit the negotiability of their relationships, they want their relationship to be different to heterosexual ones.