Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Non-Normative Sexualities and the Boundaries of Matrimonial Inclusion

The global momentum toward legal recognition of same-sex couples has extended from Europe to Asia, with same-sex marriage now legislated in Taiwan (2019), Nepal (2023), and Thailand (2025). Yet even as marriage undergoes transformation to encompass a more diverse population, it remains insufficiently clear what marriage under reformation means for those with the sexualities outside the heterosexual-homosexual binary. Can marriage, as a historically mono-sexual institution structured around heterosexual and homosexual dyads, extend to encompass bisexuality, polyamory, asexuality, and fictosexuality? What might marriage mean, for example. for polyamorous or bisexual individuals (Vernallis, 2017)? Does a triadic union involving bisexual or lesbian partners constitute a contemporary form of group marriage that Murdock categorically dismissed (Murdock, 1949)?

This session examines the trajectory of marriage beyond same-sex unions by bringing together empirical research on how individuals living non-normative sexualities position themselves in relation to existing matrimonial arrangements across diverse cultural and institutional contexts. We invite contributions investigating how people have organized their practices of intimacy, cohabitation, and care against the modal patterns of normative monosexual marriage. We are particularly interested in how such individuals comprehend, critique, contest, tactically appropriate, and seek to transform the prevailing institution of marriage. While theoretically informed work is welcome, this session prioritizes studies that are at least partially empirical. Both qualitative and quantitative contributions are encouraged.