This thesis aims to analyse two institutes of family law - registered partnership and adoption. This paper endeavours to understand the historical consequences connected with the adoption of the Registered Partnership Act in 2006 and compares the legislation of these institutes with 35 other European countries. By using a predominately analytical method the thesis strives to predict the direction of Czech legislative changes. This follows in light of the recent annulment of certain discriminatory aspects of the Registered Partnership Act. The analysis takes into consideration recent precendents made by the European Court of Human Rights.

In Cameroon, as in many other African countries, there is a law prohibiting same-sex relationships. The relevant provision, Article 347bis of the Cameroonian Penal Code (Law No 65-LF-24 of 12 November and Law No 67-LF-1 of 12 June 1967), states as follows: “Whoever has sexual relations with a person of the same-sex shall be punished with imprisonment for from six months to five years and fine from 20 000 to 200 000 francs.” This study assesses the law criminalizing same-sex relationships in Cameroon as being discriminatory and encouraging a homophobic society and as contributing to the stigmatization and marginalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Both State and non-State actors in Cameroon do not accept the practice of homosexuality due to the conservative nature of traditional cultural values and religious beliefs. Consequently, presumed LGBT people are frequently harassed, persecuted and arbitrarily arrested on suspicion of their sexual identity. Moreover, the rejection and denial of LGBT people make them live in fear and hiding. It also exposes them to the greatest risk of HIV infection. It is argued in this study that the criminalisation of consensual same-sex conducts violates the rights to privacy, equality, fair trial, human dignity and the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the Cameroon Constitution and the various international human rights instruments that Cameroon has ratified. It also deprives LGBT people of their rights to education and health merely on the basis of them being who they are. The finding from this study indicates that the law alone is not enough to make a social change. Perspective and inputs from other disciplines such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Science of Education need to enhance the arguments for the decriminalisation of same-sex conduct. This study also shows the harmful impact that the law criminalising same-sex behaviour has on LGBT people as well as the society as a whole. Thus, it is very important for the Cameroonian government to take the first step towards decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in order to respect its obligation to respect, promote, protect and fulfil everyone‟s human rights without distinction of any, according to its international commitments and agreements. The government should also take a great and dynamic initiative regarding the educational aspect because education is a vital key for significant progress and change. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

People engage in sex for a wide variety of reasons and these reasons can differ depending on the individual, his or her partner, and on the context of the sexual encounter. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine how sexual attraction and sexual orientation, of both self and partner, affect an individual’s reasons to engage in sex, or sexual motivation. Three studies were conducted to explore these effects from both the individual’s and the partner’s perspective. In Study 1, individual attitudes toward having casual sex, dating, and being in a committed relationship with a bisexual partner of the other gender were examined in a sample of 720 men and women. Participants reported negative attitudes toward having these relationships and more negative attitudes were reported as the commitment level of the considered relationship increased. Women also reported more negative attitudes and greater insecurity toward relationships than men. In Study 2, the psychometric properties of a comprehensive research tool, the Why Have Sex? (YSEX?) questionnaire to use in Study 3 for the study of sexual motivation were evaluated in a sample of 146 women with same-sex attraction. Overall, the reliability of this scale was excellent for casual sex motivations and motivations for sex in committed relationships with female partners. In Study 3, motivations for sex and the effects of relationship context, sexual attraction, and the gender of one’s partner were explored in a sample of 510 women including women with same-sex attraction and women with exclusively heterosexual attraction. Results of this study showed that relationship context had the largest effect on sexual motivation; physical motivations were more strongly endorsed for casual sex while emotional motivations were more strongly endorsed for sex in committed relationships. No effect of sexual attraction was reported. Further, no effect of gender of partner was reported by sexual minority women. The results of this dissertation have important implications for the study of sexual motivation, specifically as it relates to sexual attraction and orientation. Motivations for sex are likely to be affected by an individual’s attitudes and perceptions of his or her partner’s sexual orientation and associated stereotypes. In addition, the type of sexual relationship and associated level of commitment had strong, differential effects on sexual motivation. This is a novel finding as the context of the sexual relationship has not previously been considered with respect to individual motivations for sex. Henceforth, studies on sexual motivation need to be more contextualized and include more comprehensive assessments of individuals to increase the validity of findings and demonstrate the complex variation of human sexual motivation.

There is an increasing movement recognizing LGBT rights in the international arena. In China, “tongzhi” (a Chinese term for LGBT) still face massive discrimination due mainly to the Chinese government’s repressive indifference policy. This thesis follows Kees Waaldijk’s developmental pattern theory of the recognition of gay rights, starting from decriminalisation, anti-discrimination, and reaching partnership legislation. It examines this theoretic pattern in relation to the development of sexual minority rights in the United Nations (UN), European and Canadian human rights law systems. Although every jurisdiction has its own unique aspects, each basically followed Waaldijk’s pattern. The thesis concludes that the application of privacy, equality and non-discrimination principles have helped sexual minorities to achieve equal rights in a variety of fields. The thesis further examines whether the experiences within these three human rights systems can be adopted in the Chinese context. Since the UN laws are soft laws, they will help influence legal reform for tongzhi rights in China but will not be a decisive factor. With regard to the regional human rights model, unlike Council of Europe and the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is unlikely to push the development of human rights in China due to the lack of a strong tie between China and ASEAN member states. The Canadian experience is inspiring but will not be easily duplicated due to the lack of democratic institutions and the absence of an effective judicial review system and judicial independence in China. It is anticipated that the Waaldijk pattern cannot be reproduced in the Chinese context. China will take a top-down reform route in terms of the tongzhi rights development. The central authorities will likely adjust relevant policies to the tongzhi group once a crisis has generated sufficient social pressure that would influence the central authorities to consider changing their repressive indifference policy. Same-sex marriage law is anticipated to be the first tongzhi human right legislation in China due to the Chinese traditional culture of tolerance, the support found among academics, and the current political environment.

2011 was the first year the majority of the American public were in favor of same-sex marriage—a nine point (and largest year-to-year) increase from 2010. That year gave the LGBTQ community a crucial win in the hard-fought cultural war over government validation of same-sex relationships. Not so coincidentally, 2010 saw mass media, specifically network television, depict same-sex relationships like never before. New shows like Modern Family, Glee and The Good Wife hit their ratings zenith alongside stalwarts like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and House. But were the relationships depicted diverse in terms of roles, race, class and gender? Or did they resemble the heteronormative ideal of the white, upper middle-class relationship and family? Through a discourse analysis of popular, scripted network television shows from the 2010-2011 season, I found the depictions to powerfully create a “normal” same-sex relationship towards a heteronormative ideal. Both the same-sex women and men’s relationships were heteronormative in that their statuses and roles within the relationship adhered to the classic masculine/feminine binary. However, the same-sex women’s relationships were queerer, exhibiting sexual fluidity and labels beyond gay and straight. Still, the women maintained Western, feminine appearances supporting Laura Mulvey’s male gaze. The same-sex men’s relationships fully supported Jasbir Puar’s notion of the “exceptional homosexual.” Beyond their roles, the men’s relationships were heteronormative by being same-raced/white, upper-class, and, in two out of the three couples, having children. Ultimately, all the depictions exemplified Monique Wittig’s frustration that historical “discourses of heterosexuality oppress us in the sense that they prevent us from speaking unless we speak on their terms.”

I och med att regnbågsfamiljer blir allt vanligare ökar kraven på ett likvärdigt och professionellt bemötande, vilket således ställer krav på kunskap och kompetens hos professionella. Samtidigt råder fortfarande heteronormativa föreställningar om familjen i samhället. Denna kvalitativa intervjustudie undersöker, utifrån en socialkonstruktivistisk ansats, hur familjebehandlare förhåller sig till heteronormen i mötet med samkönade föräldrar. Genom tematisk analys och med utgångspunkt i queerteorin och dess heteronormativitetsbegrepp, i kombination med de teoretiska begreppen stigmatisering, under- och överfokusering, exotifiering samt den heterosexuella matrisen, har fem teman av familjebehandlares föreställningar kring bemötande av samkönade föräldrar urskilts. De teman som framkommit i materialet är att ha samma bemötande oavsett sexuell läggning, att göra anpassningar för inkludering i bemötandet, att förhålla sig nyfiket till samkönade par, att se kunskap som centralt för att säkerställa ett gott bemötande, samt föreställningar kring kön och sexualitet. I familjebehandlarnas resonemang kan heteronormativa föreställningar urskiljas men även försök till motstånd och förändring. Detta motstånd mot heteronormativt bemötande av samkönade föräldrar, riskerar dock att oavsiktligt reproducera heteronormativa föreställningar.

En France, dans une société hétéronormative à domination masculine, quelles représentations les mères lesbiennes ont-elles du genre et de la socialisation de genre de leurs enfants ? L’hypothèse principale qui sous-tend la recherche est que la position particulière des lesbiennes dans le système du genre – à la fois dominées et transfuges de la classe des femmes – leur permet un point de vue critique des normes dominantes et les prédispose à transmettre des modèles qui remettent en cause l’ordre du genre. Dans un contexte français d’institutionnalisation progressive de l’homoparentalité marqué par un débat public très houleux (2012-2013), 36 entretiens semi-directifs longs ont été réalisés entre 2011 et 2014 avec des femmes lesbiennes ayant des enfants de moins de douze ans conçus en contexte lesboparental. Malgré une certaine homogénéité des profils qui classent les enquêtées parmi les catégories sociales privilégiées, on constate une hétérogénéité des représentations et des pratiques pour composer avec les normes dominantes. Les mères lesbiennes rencontrées me semblent être des « résistantes ordinaires » à la domination : sans adhésion idéologique aux normes qui les assujettissent, elles sont animées d’une volonté d’intégration. Pragmatiques dans leur lecture du contexte et du contrat social, elles sont attentives à se préserver et à préserver leur famille des effets de l’homophobie. Elles déploient leur résistance du côté de l’infrapolitique pour repousser les limites établies par le cadre contraignant. / In the French heteronormative, male dominated society, what are French lesbian mothers’ representations of gender, and specifically of their children’s gender socialization? The main hypothesis is that being dominated as women and sex-class transfuges at the same time, lesbians have a particular position within the gender system, allowing them a critical point of view on the dominant norms. They are thus predisposed to transmit to their children gender models that challenge the gender system. In France, the gradual institutionalization of homosexual parenting is accompanied with a heated public debate (especially in 2012 and 2013). This research is primarily based on semi-structured interviews conducted between 2011 and 2014. The 36 interviewees are lesbian women with children under 12 years old, conceived within the frame of lesbian parenting. Despite the homogeneity of their social positions (middle and upper class), the interviewees have heterogeneous representations of the dominant norms. They also develop different sets of practices to face these norms. These lesbian mothers seem to develop ordinary forms of resistance to domination. While they show no ideological endorsement to heterosexist norms, they express a real will to be integrated within society. They interpret the context and social contract in a pragmatic way, and seek to protect themselves and their families from the effects of homophobia. Their resistance is mainly infra-political: pushing against the established limits of a framework that restricts them.

This research looks at how local television news framed the efforts in Iowa in 2010 and 2012 to unseat Iowa Supreme Court Justices whose 2009 ruling in the case Varnum v. Brien made Iowa the third state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. By looking at relevant news packages and interviewing journalists, news directors, and spokespersons, I traced the way the traditionally ignored judicial retention votes became a top political story, and how particular frames entered the news. I found that despite a well-meaning intention to cover the story in a professionally acceptable fashion, these same news values and reporting rituals blinded journalists to how their attempts to provide “balance” ultimately accomplished the opposite. Evidence studied here suggested that morality politics was the dominant frame throughout most of the coverage, with the civil rights aspects of the issue mostly relegated to the day after each election rather than in the weeks prior. Political science literature defines morality politics as a campaign strategy that relies upon arguments based on “morality,” “values,” or even “sin” to motivate supporters. In the Iowa case, this concept gets modified because while the conservative campaign engaged the logics of morality politics, they also felt the need to couch their campaign in issues like “judicial activism.” I conclude the ability to get news coverage of the anti-retention campaign and get this modified morality politics framing as dominant in that coverage reveals the exercise of political and social power in defense of the hegemonic heteronormative cultural matrix.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken forskning och kunskap det finns kring våld i nära relationer mellan samkönade par. Vidare är syftet att undersöka hur samhällsinsatserna ser ut för våldsutsatta personer i samkönade relationer som söker hjälp i ett heteronormativt samhälle. / It is known that domestic violence in same-sex couples is an issue that needs to be addressed similarly to the discourse of domestic violence in heterosexual relationships or violence against women. Therefore, it is of interest to examine what research there currently is to be found on the matter. There is also an importance to examine what kind of support same-sex couples can acquire from different social agencies in relation to domestic violence. Because of the limited research on the subject, there is a need for more empirical research. Due to a restricted level of knowledge within the Swedish research on this subject, the study will discuss the topics without being bound to a specific place. This actuality is taken into account however and is also analyzed in the study. The purpose of this study is to examine what knowledge there is in connection to domestic violence in same-sex couples. Additionally, the study aims to examine how the support for same-sex couples is designed in a heteronormative society. To be able to achieve this, material have been collected through previous empirical research. A systematic literary research method has been used to collect the data for this study. In the result and analysis, various themes were constructed which are used to answer the question formulations. Some of these are: the connection between homophobia and domestic violence in same-sex couples, intersectionality and power as a theory as well as how they can help analyze domestic violence in same-sex couples and also what knowledge and experience professionals have about violence in same-sex couples. These themes are in turn divided into subtitles and all the themes are related to violence in same-sex couples. It became clear during the study, that the reception HBTQ-people get from different social services as well as people in their close proximity is going to influence their prerequisites when it comes to recognizing and defining domestic violence in the relationship. This circumstance is also affected by the heteronormative society and it’s patriarchal structure. This is usually displayed in ignorant meetings with medical personnel, family members but also strangers. The perspective on how the discourse regarding HBTQ-people, gender and sexuality is affecting same-sex couples is also a reoccurring topic in the study. Too insure to what extent this affect has and how negative stereotypes and norms can be extinguished, for the purpose of widening the knowledge about domestic violence in same-sex couples, there is a need for more research.

The concept of “family” has rapidly changed over the past few years. The prevalence of more and more children raised in same-gendered families has brought to mind the question of disclosure. This qualitative case study explored the disclosure practices of adolescents raised in same-gendered families in an attempt to understand how adolescents negotiate their unique family structure throughout their daily lives. The data in this study was analysed using thematic content analysis. It was found that both positive and negative experiences influence the adolescents raised in samegendered families decision to disclose and that disclosure of family structure usually takes place after careful negotiation based on the grounds of either a close relationship, common ground or a perceived urgency. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted