For the Freedom to Marry… or Against It: A Qualitative Study of the Attitudes of Gays and Lesbians Toward Same-Sex Marriage in France

Based on 90 in-depth interviews with French gay men and lesbian women, this article shows that their attitudes toward same-sex marriage depend on how individuals subjectivize homosexuality, reflecting, at the individual level, a general tension between universalism and differentialism. Six identity stances based on this tension are identified and interpreted as organizing the different attitudes toward same-sex marriage rights. These six identity stances result from the interplay between each individual’s experience of minoritization, their value system, and their relationship to respectability politics. These three components shape individual queer sexual identities in a more or less universalist or differentialist way, through an interactive process that can help us to understand individuals’ support for, opposition to, or indifference toward the demand for same-sex marriage rights. Finally, the study provides insights that shed light on processes of subjectivization and minority politics beyond the case of gays and lesbians.