Heterosexism i Europeiska unionen

Abstract

In their efforts to end discrimination, lesbian and gay movements throughout Europé appear to have relinquished their critical disdain of the dominant world that excludes them and asked instead for its acceptance. Once analyzed in ways that exposed its exclusive and oppressive dimensions, the family is now presumed to afford a path to egalitarianism. The affirmation of family has entailed, among other approaches, campaigns for lesbian and gay marriage and the legalization o f same sex cohabitation. While these efforts may sensitize some to the exclusionary nature of several social institutions and provide immediate comfort to others, such pursuits fail to rigorously question the authority of regimes to grant privileged recognition and material benefits to some relationships (e.g., cohabiting and marital) and not others. Feminist insights have been relinquished for liberalism's illusions, an untenable strategy for radical social change.