Transnational and non-U.S. Panels, Part 1

The “After Marriage” framing of the conference is US-centric, so we’re glad to have several panels and presentations that disrupt that centrism by focusing on transnational issues and non-US contexts–some with legal same-sex marriage, and some without. Today we’ll feature some of the panels that center these perspectives.

First is a series of 3 panels on Saturday exploring queer couples and relationships in southern Europe and in China and Taiwan.

Before, After and Beyond Marriage – Perspectives from Southern Europe I: Queering Coupledom | Saturday, Oct 1 | 11:15 am – 1 pm

Southern Europe is a recent and growing area of interest in social sciences. The region presents different degrees of recognition of same-sex relationships, before, after and beyond marriage. In this panel we present results from timely research conducted in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The three countries share similar gender and welfare regimes, marked by Catholicism, normative family ideals, migration and financial austerity. Despite similarities, there are significant differences in the ways LGBT intimate biographies are legally framed and daily experienced. In Spain the right to marry was granted in 2005; while in Portugal same-sex marriage is legal since 2010; in Italy, as we write, LGBT groups are fighting for parenting rights. This panel is the first part of a double-panel series.

– Gracia Trujillo: “Marriage? On Radical Genealogies, Queer and Feminist Protests and Austerity Times in Spain”
– Mara Pieri: “Diving into the Unknown. Partnering and Migration Choices in Narratives from Italy”
– Ana Cristina Santos: “Queer Non-Monogamy Hits the Legal (Marriage) Fan: Relational Citizenship in Portugal”
– Pablo Perez Navarro: “Beyond Inclusion: Non-Monogamies Before the Law”
– Luciana Moreira: “Living Lesbian Relationships in Madrid: Do they Really Care About Us?”

Before, After and Beyond Marriage – Perspectives from Southern Europe II: Biographical narratives, collective struggles and historical accounts | Saturday, Oct 1 | 2:30 pm – 4:15 pm

Southern Europe is a recent and growing area of interest in social sciences. The region presents different degrees of recognition of same-sex relationships, before, after and beyond marriage. In this panel we present results from timely research conducted in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The three countries share similar gender and welfare regimes, marked by Catholicism, normative family ideals, migration and financial austerity. Despite similarities, there are significant differences in the ways LGBT intimate biographies are legally framed and daily experienced. In Spain the right to marry was granted in 2005; while in Portugal same-sex marriage is legal since 2010; in Italy, as we write, LGBT groups are fighting for parenting rights. Being focused on Southern Europe, the unspoken reference point remains Northern Europe. As such we include Iceland as a Nordic country representing the counterpoint to these experiences, with a strong history of equal rights and opportunities. This panel is the second part of a double-panel series.

– Marina Franchi & Giulia Selmi: “Queer Kinship Before Marriage: Narratives, Strategies and Struggles of LGBT Parents in Italy”
– José Ignacio Pichardo Galán: “At the End of the Rainbow: Ten Years After the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in Spain”
– Ana Lúcia Santos: “Can the Lesbian Couple Speak? Reshaping Homonormativity Through Intimate Lesbian Biographies in Portugal”
– Tatiana Motterle: “Before Marriage: Lesbian and Bisexual Women Reclaiming Relational Visibility in Italy”
– Marie Digoix: “After the Laws: Is the Nordic Model Still a Reference? The Case of Iceland”

Queer(ing) Marriage and Family in China and Taiwan | Saturday, Oct 1 | 4:45 pm – 6:30 pm

While marriage has been opened up to same-sex couples in a growing number of countries, the practices of queer kinship that are ‘more than marriage,’ especially those from non-Western cultures, deserve much more attention. In this panel consisting of academics and activists from China and Taiwan, we present an array of queer family experiences: marriages between lesbians and gay men, intergenerational relations, discourse around mixed-orientation marriages, complexities of a cross-strait partnership, and parenting under different marital conditions.

Through examining these diverse family forms, we ask: What family strategies do people employ when there is little legal recognition of same-sex partnership or parenthood? Is the turn toward a seemingly normative life necessarily a turn away from queerness? With growing global emphasis on ‘marriage equality,’ what marginal subjects are likely to be further excluded? What do Chinese and Taiwanese perspectives contribute to the future of LGBTQ politics and scholarship around the globe?

– Shuzhen Huang: “Queering Marriage: The Practice of Xinghun in Contemporary Mainland China”
– Elisabeth L. Engebretsen : “Chinese PFLAG Narratives: Family Relations, Moral Values, and Identity Politics in Popo Fan’s Mama Rainbow and Pink Dads”
– J.S. Zhu: “‘I’m Gay, and I Won’t Marry A Straight Person’: Critical Reflection on the Campaign Against Mixed-Orientation Marriage in China”
– Amy Brainer: “Queer Parenting in Taiwan”
– Aiwan Liao: “A Cross-Strait (“STRAIGHT”) Future?”