Citizenship and same sex relationships

In the UK in recent years, a dramatic growth in media concern with same sex relationships has led to the suggestion that the resulting visibility is i ndicative of the extent to which the intimate lives of non-heterosexuals ar e becoming more acceptable. In this article we question this using data dra wn from the Families of Choice Project, a qualitative research project base d on interviews with over a hundred non-heterosexual women and men, which h ighlight the ways in which they are prevented from participating as full ci tizens in civic, political, economic, and legal society. Using Plummer's (1 995) notion of intimate citizenship, we discuss first how respondents talk about the ways in which their intimate relationships are not recognised or validated legally, economically, politically or socially. We then analyse t he respondents, ideas about what policy options could be considered to incl ude their 'families of choice'. Finally, we argue that the family model on which most legislation and policy is based is too narrow, exclusive and inf lexible to include families of choice.