Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This qualitative study explores the area of lesbian and gay 'marriage' and civil partnerships. The objective was to examine the socio-legal, cultural and familial meanings and significance for lesbians and gay men of seeking public or formal recognition of relationships. This means examining the kinds of ceremonies couples hold (e.g. with religious elements or not), who they invite (e.g. families of origin or just friends), and whether they follow conventions such as the exchange of rings or whether they adopt radically different styles of ceremony. It also examined how parents and close kin respond to the marriage/registration (e.g. whether there is an exacerbation of or a reduction in feelings of disapproval) and also how the wider kinship network is affected. Its specific aims were: to establish why lesbians and gay men may want to register their partnerships or have commitment ceremoniesto ascertain how full marriage is regardedto identify the kinds of ceremonies that are/will be chosen to celebrate commitmentto explore what meanings are given to such ritualsto explore how wider kin respond to the marriage/registrationto consider how embeddedness (or otherwise) in wider kin networks is influenced by these legitimation ceremoniesto explore understandings of the legal implications of both partnership registration and of 'real' marriageThe study was based on in-depth interviews with same-sex couples. Fifty-four interviews were conducted: 37 with couples and 17 with individuals, giving a total 91 interviewees. Of these, 61 were women and 30 were men. The majority of interviewees were between 30 and 49 and some couples had been together thirty years or more. All except one respondents described themselves as white (mainly White British, White English, etc.) and the sample was disproportionately 'middle class' (a ratio of 8:1) taking into account factors of education level, the nature of...