THE AMBIGUITY OF LESBIAN AND GAY MARRIAGES - CHANGE AND CONTINUITY INTHE SYMBOLIC ORDER

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.