Pursuing Marriage Equality in Four Democracies: Canada, the United States, Belgium, and Spain

1
David Paternotte
David Paternotte
2
Susan Gluck Mezey
Susan Gluck Mezey
1 Loyola University Chicago

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Viewing litigation as an effective weapon in minority group politics, gay and lesbian rights activists in Canada and the United States turned to the judicial arena, seeking the courts’ affirmation of their fundamental right to marry. In contrast, Belgian and Spanish activists refrained from constitutional litigation, choosing instead to pursue marriage equality by appealing to national legislative and executive institutions, and developing insider strategies within the political parties. This paper explores the asymmetry between the four countries: it highlights the key differences and similarities among them and offers preliminary explanations for the disparities in strategies for marriage equality. It concludes that the strategies developed by same-sex marriage advocates in these four cases reflected their countries’ legal and political environment as well as their historical approach to social reform.

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Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

Data Availability

Not applicable for this article.

David Paternotte. 2013. \u201cPursuing Marriage Equality in Four Democracies: Canada, the United States, Belgium, and Spain\u201d. Global Journal of Human-Social Science - C: Sociology & Culture GJHSS-C Volume 13 (GJHSS Volume 13 Issue C3): .

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Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/GJHSS

Print ISSN 0975-587X

e-ISSN 2249-460X

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July 9, 2013

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Viewing litigation as an effective weapon in minority group politics, gay and lesbian rights activists in Canada and the United States turned to the judicial arena, seeking the courts’ affirmation of their fundamental right to marry. In contrast, Belgian and Spanish activists refrained from constitutional litigation, choosing instead to pursue marriage equality by appealing to national legislative and executive institutions, and developing insider strategies within the political parties. This paper explores the asymmetry between the four countries: it highlights the key differences and similarities among them and offers preliminary explanations for the disparities in strategies for marriage equality. It concludes that the strategies developed by same-sex marriage advocates in these four cases reflected their countries’ legal and political environment as well as their historical approach to social reform.

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Pursuing Marriage Equality in Four Democracies: Canada, the United States, Belgium, and Spain

Susan Gluck Mezey
Susan Gluck Mezey
David Paternotte
David Paternotte Loyola University Chicago

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