JS-12
Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Partnership and Kin Relations

Monday, 16 July 2018: 17:30-19:20
Location: 718A (MTCC SOUTH BUILDING)
RC06 Family Research (host committee)
RC32 Women in Society

Language: English

Much has been written on arguments for and against same-sex partnerships, including the implications on the maintenance or challenge of heteronormativity and the institution of marriage. As movements for same-sex partnerships and marriage begin to emerge in Asian countries, we also see the significance of contextualizing such discussions in the sociolegal institution of the family. Extant research has revealed the complexity of the practices of intimacy in the family, especially between lesbian daughters and their mothers, and that such practices vary cross-culturally. Further, in most cultures, women are responsible for kin work or expected to manage relations in the family. Going beyond abstract arguments for or against same-sex partnership, we’d like to explore how familial relations, especially mother-daughter relations, and kin work affect the decision to seek legal recognition and the consequences of legal same-sex partnership in diverse cultural and sociolegal contexts. In particular, we welcome empirical and theoretical papers that contextualize same-sex partnerships in kin relations, examining any of the following or related themes: how kin relations feature in same-sex partners’ consideration of legal recognition of partnership; how legal recognition affect kin relations, especially considering the relationship between mother and daughters; the participation of same-sex partners in kin work; how race/ethnicity, social class, and other bases of inequality intersect with one’s orientation towards seeking legal recognition and the impact on kin relations.
Session Organizers:
Diana KHOR, Department of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies, Hosei University, Japan, Denise TANG, Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong and Saori KAMANO, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan
Chair:
Diana KHOR, Hosei University, Japan
Oral Presentations
Does Same-Sex Marriage Change the Relationships with Families of Origin?
Gaëlle MESLAY, University Paris-Sorbonne / INED, France
Family and Partnership: Motivations in Applying for Same-Sex Partnership Certificate in Shibuya, Tokyo
Saori KAMANO, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan; Yusuke KAMIYA, Kanto Gakuin University, Japan; Ikuko SUGIURA, Department of Sociological Studies, Wako University, Japan; Hiroyuki TANIGUCHI, Faculty of Law, Takaoka University of Law, Japan
Negotiating the Tuxedo Wedding: The Division of Wedding Labor for Men in Same-Sex and Straight Marriages
Melanie HEATH, McMaster University, Canada; Tina FETNER, McMaster University, Canada; Jessica BRAIMOH, McMaster University, Canada; Nikki-Marie BROWN, McMaster University, Canada
Distributed Papers
Same-Sex Partners and Practices of Familial Intimacy
Diana KHOR, Hosei University, Japan; Saori KAMANO, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan
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