The individualization of society and the liberalization of state policies on same-sex sexual relations, 1984-1995

Over the last half century, social life throughout much of the world has be en reconstituted around individualized persons, conceived to embody ultimat e authority over their own lives As individuals have become more central to society, and as models of individuated personhood have been claimed by wom en as well as by men, many changes have ensued including a dramatic transfo rmation of sex. Sex has ceased to be dominantly associated with the family and procreation and has come to be associated with the individual and pleas ure. One expression of this shift is the recent vise and public legitimatio n of same-sex sexual relations. Gay and lesbian social movements have appea red worldwide, and many nation-states have liberalized their policies on ho mosexual relations. Using regression models on cross-national data, we show that (1) high levels of individualization and gender equality provide a "c ultural opportunity structure" that gives rise to active lesbian and gay so cial movements and liberalized state policies on same-sex relations and tha t (2) active lesbian and gay social movements and liberal state policies ea ch facilitate the other. Competing explanations for the changes, such as ec onomic development and democratization, receive little support.