Before, After and Beyond Marriage – Perspectives from Southern Europe II: Biographical narratives, collective struggles and historical accounts


1.69 October 1, 2016 2:30 pm - 4:15 pm

Bookmark and Share

Presenter biographies will be linked below as they become available. Final program subject to change.

Marina Franchi
Giulia Selmi
José Ignacio Pichardo Galán
Ana Lúcia Santos
Tatiana Motterle
Marie Digoix

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” (full abstract)

José Ignacio Pichardo Galán: “At the End of the Rainbow: Ten Years After the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in Spain” (full abstract)

Ana Lúcia Santos: “Can the Lesbian Couple Speak? Reshaping Homonormativity Through Intimate Lesbian Biographies in Portugal” (full abstract)

Tatiana Motterle: “Before Marriage: Lesbian and Bisexual Women Reclaiming Relational Visibility in Italy” (full abstract)

Marie Digoix: “After the Laws: Is the Nordic Model Still a Reference? The Case of Iceland”(full abstract)