by just focusing on occupational segregation and other cultural practices. In
many Western countries the lobbying for LGBT identity rights produced
substantial social change, in education, in the military, and perhaps most
remarkably, in regards to the institution of marriage (Table 1).
Table 1. Countries where same-sex marriage was legal in 2018.
Country Legal since
Netherlands 2000
Belgium 2003Canada, Spain 2005
South Africa 2006
Norway 2008
Sweden 2009
Portugal, Iceland, Argentina 2010Denmark 2012
New Zealand, France, England, Wales, Brazil, Uruguay 2013
Scotland, Luxembourg 2014
Ireland, Finland, United States 2015
Colombia 2016Germany, Malta, Australia 2017Legalizing same-sex marriage and thus redefining a central institution of society
indeed is a major change. To LGBTs, it means recognition of their identity, while
their opponents see in it an attack on theirs.
The resistance against same-sex marriage, for instance on the part of the
Christian Right in the United States and Muslim leaders across Australia, directs
our attention to the explosive potential of identity recognition and assertion. In
regards to gender as in other fields, it involves power and is often contentious
and highly emotional. A horrid manifestation of this was the 2016 mass shooting
in a dance club in Orlando, Florida, where forty-nine people were killed for