Search

Same-sex marriage is now a reality across Western countries. While this was a positive achievement for the LGBTQ community, some crucial questions remain unanswered. One of these questions concerns the future of nonmarital statuses, such as domestic partnerships or civil unions. After the legalization of same-sex marriage, U.S. states are simply phasing them out. I wish to argue against this trend. Based on an original analysis of empirical data and case law, I argue that nonmarital statuses retain value for non-traditional families. In fact, states must introduce nonmarital statuses open to couples regardless of gender, including adult friends and relatives. To support this argument, I present two analyses. First, I survey empirical research showing that (1) opposite-sex couples are signing up for nonmarital statuses at increasingly high rates, where available; (2) interest in such laws is growing even among same-sex couples in countries where same-sex marriage has existed for a long time. Second, I outline the legal and theoretical justifications for extending same-sex nonmarital partnerships to all couples. To this end, I analyze recent strategic litigation in Europe initiated by heterosexual couples who sought access to nonmarital statuses reserved for same-sex couples. The analysis allows me to identify three approaches: a status recognition approach, a utilitarian approach, and a legal-pluralistic approach. Ultimately, I offer guidance to policymakers in crafting a status that would be suitable for modern couples. Families that do not tick the boxes of the traditional marital family model continue to slip under the radar of law. Resurrecting these laws can fix the problem of their legal invisibility. Please note: minor changes have been made to this article on pages 213-14, and this pdf will differ slightly from hard copies or versions available elsewhere.

‘What is family?’ is an impossible question. Singular definitions in the legal realm are predominant in the West. Such definitions are no longer tenable. The concept of family has been put under strain by both empirical and normative evolutions concerning the ways in which we do family. More generally, family arrangements have reached unusual levels of complexity. Queer families are slowly gaining social and, to a limited extent, legal visibility All articles within this themed section engage with the topic of the law/queer families relationship. This topic should be nested within the larger framework of queer theories and their connection with law. To sum up, a recurring question is: ‘Is law a good idea?’. In turn, locating the question whether law is a good idea in the context of family is a useful resource to seek an answer, however plural, inconclusive, and tentative., Whatever. A Transdisciplinary Journal of Queer Theories and Studies, 4(1), 293-302

The present dissertation addresses the problem of the insufficient recognition of non-traditional families. “Non-traditional” or “new” family is a composite category which encompasses non-normative conjugal families, as polyamorous relationships, and non-conjugal families (made up of relatives or friends, which lack a sexual component.) The aim of the research is to present the non-recognition of these new networks of care as a problem, and thereafter to build legal arguments to confer private and public family law entitlements upon them in selected legal systems: Canada, the United States, and the two meta-national systems of the European Convention of Human Rights and on European Union in Europe. The research has been conducted through “fieldwork” in the mentioned systems. It demonstrates that too often the legal framework is not aligned with the current landscape of family patterns, marked by an increasing family pluralism. This misalignment is the by-product of a choice by the systems under review to still take the marital family as the relevant basis for allocating family law benefits, rights, and obligations. Thus, after having expounded the different models for recognizing new families, the analysis moves to build legal arguments to introduce legal protections in each of the selected jurisdictions. These arguments are: a constitutional and policy-based argument in the U.S., a constitutional and policy-based argument in Canada, and ultimately two arguments resting on the European Convention of Human Rights and on European Union law in Europe. One is to be alert to the fact that this field of research is still a work in progress, owing to the fact that case law is at an early stage of development and that only a handful of legal schemes open to new families have been enacted so far. This dissertation thus attempts to gather and systematize all the relevant legal material instrumental to building legal arguments, with an awareness that further legal developments are needed before these arguments can reach a high likelihood of success before courts or legislative bodies.

Reconhecer e valorizar o trabalho não remunerado das mulheres, assegurando simultaneamente a igualdade no acesso a recursos e igual estatuto na família e na sociedade, continua a ser um desafio a nível mundial. A mudança deste padrão exige que a parentalidade seja efectivamente integrada no mundo dos homens. Em Portugal, três décadas após o reconhecimento da licença de maternidade (em 1976), Portugal abandonou o modelo parental do "homem providenciador /mulher cuidadora" e em 2009 adoptou um regime orientado para a igualdade de género. Actualmente, para beneficiários da segurança social, prevê uma licença parental relativamente curta (quatro meses) após o parto (ou adopção), bem remunerada, e que pode ser alargada para cinco meses totalmente remunerados quando a licença é partilhada (para encorajar os pais a tirarem uma licença sozinhos depois da mãe voltar ao trabalho), com a opção de acrescentar um mês parcialmente remunerado. Seis semanas têm de ser gozadas pela mãe e a licença restante é flexível em termos de género. O modelo inclui uma licença totalmente paga de uso exclusivo do pai (25 dias), com um período inicial de utilização obrigatória (20 dias). Este trabalho tem dois objectivos. Primeiro, compreender a evolução do regime da licença de parentalidade a partir de uma perspectiva de igualdade de género, centrado nas alterações às modalidades de licença parental. Depois, analisar se, e como, o regime pode ser melhorado para se tornar um instrumento mais forte de promoção da igualdade de género em Portugal. Com base na análise da evolução do princípio da igualdade na Constituição Portuguesa e das disposições do Código do Trabalho sobre a parentalidade, conclui-se que as alterações feitas para promover a igualdade entre mulheres e homens no contexto do trabalho e da família, e a consequente utilização da licença parental pelos homens, têm apoiado uma importante mudança na normatividade social assimétrica que coloca nas mulheres a responsabilidade de cuidar. Além disso, a revisão bibliográfica indica que a licença parental partilhada é fundamental para combater normas de género desiguais e discriminatórias e apoiar uma maior igualdade no trabalho. Contudo, esta análise indica também que existem aspectos do regime português que podem ser melhorados para apoiar a mudança do sistema tradicional de género. Com recurso a uma análise comparativa funcional dos regimes progressivos da Suécia e Espanha, este trabalho apresenta recomendações para reforçar o regime português de licença parental como instrumento para alcançar a igualdade de género. Recognizing and valuing women’s unpaid work, while ensuring equal access to resources and to equal status within the family and in society, remains a challenge globally. Changing this pattern requires parenthood to be effectively integrated into men’s world. In Portugal, three decades after the recognition of maternity leave (in 1976) Portugal abandoned the “male breadwinner / female carer” parental model in 2009 and adopted a regime that is gender equality oriented. Currently, for parents with social security contributions this is a relatively short (four months), well compensated, post-natal (or adoption) parental leave, that can be expanded to five fully paid months when leave is shared (to encourage fathers to take home alone leave after the mother goes back to work), with the option of adding one partially-paid month. Six weeks have to be taken by the mother and the remaining leave is gender flexible. Importantly, the model includes a fully paid leave exclusively for the father (25 days), with an initial leave period of compulsory use (20 days). This work has two aims: the first is to understand the evolution of the parental leave regime from a gender equality lens, focusing on the changes to parental leave modalities. The second is to assess if, and how, the regime can be improved to become a stronger tool to promote gender equality in Portugal. Based on the analysis of the evolutions of the principle of equality in the Portuguese Constitution and the Labour Code’s provisions on parenthood, it concludes that the changes made to promote equality between women and men in the context of the work and family, and the resulting uptake of parental leave by men, have supported an important shift in the asymmetrical social normativity that places the responsibility of care on women. In addition, the literature review indicates that shared parental leave is instrumental to challenge unequal and discriminatory gender norms and support increased equality in the workplace. However, this review also identifies aspects of the Portuguese regime that could be improved to support challenging the traditional gender order. Therefore, supported by a functional comparative analysis of the progressive regimes of Sweden and Spain, this work provides recommendations that would enhance the Portuguese parental leave regime as a tool to achieve gender equality.