TSpace

Abstract (summary): In the 1980s, North America witnessed the emergence of a discourse on gay families, defined largely by choice and in opposition to nuclear, biological norms. Since then, there has been a general shift amongst lesbians and gay men towards a conception of family that accepts, rather than opposes, state-sanctioned relationships between two adults, and actively seeks to incorporate children as much if not more than extended networks of chosen family members. This paper addresses how the law in the United States and Canada has responded to (and been influenced by) the shift to the nuclear amongst lesbians and gay men, and how the discourse on gay families in North America has unfolded at a regulatory level. In particular, it is concerned to map and critique the law pertaining to queer families, and with how differences in levels and modes of recognition at sub- and supra-national levels affect gay families.