R. Halvorsen, THE AMBIGUITY OF LESBIAN AND GAY MARRIAGES - CHANGE AND CONTINUITY INTHE SYMBOLIC ORDER, Journal of homosexuality, 35(3-4), 1998, pp. 207-231
The article discusses the Registered Partnership Act, passed in Norway
in 1993, which has given gay and lesbian couples a right to register
their relationship and to obtain many of the legal rights that heteros
exual couples have. The article argues that the introduction of the Ac
t is a product of, among others, cohabitation having become more legit
imate as a life form also among heterosexuals. The practical consequen
ces of the Act have been modest, with relatively few couples having re
gistered their relationship. The article suggests that the symbolic ra
ther than the practical aspects of the Act have been important, and ev
en then, the symbolic effect of the Act is equivocal. The new formal r
ights of gays and lesbians are of decreasing social and symbolic value
, as new boundaries for legitimate life-forms are being demarcated els
ewhere: While legislation on marriage concedes that personal relations
hips are a private matter, the right to have and to foster children is
regarded as an issue where society at large should have a say. This v
iew is also reflected in the restrictions that the Registered Partners
hip Act has placed on gay and lesbian couples in having children of th
eir own.