Although a growing number of European governments have legalized same-sex civil unions (SSU) and same-sex marriage (SSM) in the past two decades, others have moved in the opposite direction by stal...

Broken rainbows: the partisan politics of marriage equality in Europe

A mixed-methods approach was used to examine the perceptions and prevalence of open homosexuality in intercollegiate sport in the United States. Universityhosted biographies of NCAA Bowl Championship Series (BCS) head coaches were coded to determine the frequency of head coaches listing a wife, husband, and same-sex partner (Calhoun, LaVoi, & Johnson, 2011). These findings were paired with interviews of five college coaches exploring their feelings toward the culture surrounding homosexuality, by players, coaches, and administrators, at their university. Only one coach of more than 1,000 was identified as having a same-sex partner in university-sponsored coaching biographies. Interview findings revealed collegiate athletics is not as accepting to homosexuality even though societal acceptance is increasing.

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The Glass Closet: Perceptions of Homosexuality in Intercollegiate Sport

The aims of this study are to provide momentum to research on homophobic prejudice in Czechia and to identify the significant factors influencing or mediating homophobic attitudes in Czech youth. The paper first contextualizes homophobia within the context of the Central and Eastern European countries and then refers to the role of schools and education tools in the prevention of homophobia. Results of a quantitative analysis based on original data collected during a research survey from 9th graders (N = 1082) in 35 selected Czech elementary schools are presented in the empirical part of the paper. We identify demographic, socioeconomic, psychological, and environmental factors that are significantly linked with homophobic attitudes in youth. Gender differences as well as relationship satisfaction with parents or peers, psychological status, and perception of quality of the environment one lives in were found to be among the most significant factors influencing prejudicial opinions in youth. Metropolitan youth were found to be significantly less prejudiced against nonheterosexuals. By taking lessons from abroad, we propose a number of possible policy interventions mainly in the realm of curricular documents and teacher training.

Homophobic Prejudice in Czech Youth: a Sociodemographic Analysis of Young People’s Opinions on Homosexuality

My thesis uses legal arguments to demonstrate a requirement for recognition of same-sex marriages and registered partnerships between EU Member States. I draw on the US experience, where arguments for recognition of marriages void in some states previously arose in relation to interracial marriages. I show how there the issue of recognition today depends on conflicts of law and its interface with US constitutional freedoms against discrimination. I introduce the themes of the importance of domicile, the role of the public policy exception, vested rights, and relevant US constitutional freedoms.
Recognition in the EU also depends on managing the tension between private international law and freedoms guaranteed by higher norms, in this case the EU Treaties and the European Convention on Human Rights. I set out the inconsistencies between various private international law systems and the problems this creates. Other difficulties are caused by the use of nationality as a connecting factor to determine personal capacity, and the overuse of the public policy exception. I argue that EU Law can constrain the use of conflicts law or public policy by any Member State where these are used to deny effect to same-sex unions validly formed elsewhere. I address the fact that family law falls only partly within Union competence, that existing EU Directives have had limited success at achieving full equality and that powers to implement new measures have not been used to their full potential. However, Treaty provisions outlawing discrimination on grounds of nationality can be interpreted so as to require recognition in many cases. Treaty citizenship rights can also be interpreted favourably to mandate recognition, once private international law is itself recognised as an obstacle to free movement. Finally, evolving interpretations of the European Convention on Human Rights may also support claims for cross-border recognition of existing relationships.

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Conflicts of Law and the Mutual Recognition of Same-Sex Unions in the EU

After years of public debate about same-sex marriage, the Australian Government put the issue to the electorate in the “Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey” in late 2017. The survey asked voters whether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry. Nationally, 61.6% of voters responded “Yes.” But there were marked variations by electoral division, with the proportion of “Yes” votes varying from 26.1% to 83.7%. The aim of this paper is to explore the geographical pattern of the percentage of voters responding “Yes” by federal electoral division and identify its correlates. Results of the survey by federal electoral division were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS); other variables for electoral divisions were obtained from the ABS and the Australian Electoral Commission. Multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression were employed to establish the relationship between the percentage of “Yes” responses at the electoral division level and the characteristics of electoral divisions’ populations. In 133 of 150 electoral divisions there was a majority of “Yes” responses. Strong predictor variables of the percentage “Yes” vote included the proportions of: the population describing themselves as having no religion, those with post-school educational qualifications, those with a birthplace in Oceania, Europe, or the Americas, and those who did not vote for conservative parties in the 2016 federal election. A marginally better fit was obtained with geographically weighted regression. In conclusion, the geographical pattern of responses in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey is closely associated with a small number of characteristics of an electoral division's population.

The geography of Australia's Marriage Law Postal Survey outcome

In the United States and Europe there has been a remarkable change in the legal recognition of same-sex relationships over the past two decades. Twenty years ago, no nation recognized same-sex marriage. Today in the United States, thirteen states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex couples to marry, while another six provide varying legal recognition of same-sex relationships, such as partnerships and civil unions. In Europe, nine nations permit same-sex marriage, and an additional thirteen nations provide varying levels of recognition to same-sex couples.Support for same-sex marriage has been linked to age, political party, and education. In this paper, we examine the relationship between religiosity (defined as belief in God and importance of religion in a person’s life) and support for same-sex marriage. We caution that correlation is not causation, but find that in the United States and Western Europe, there is a strong correlation, while in Eastern Europe there is not.In the United States, the correlation is remarkably strong. The most religious states (the highest quartile of States in religiosity) all have constitutional bans of same-sex marriage. Of the twelve states in the lowest religiosity quartile, eight permit same-sex marriage, while three more provide some legal recognition of same-sex relationships. In Western Europe, the correlation is not quite as strong, but some of the exceptions can probably be explained by temporary mismatches between popular support and political leadership. In Eastern Europe, however, the correlation is weak, with low religiosity often combined with low support for same-sex marriage. We suspect that this is a result of the legacy of communism, and its suppression of religion.

Alvaro Oliveira

Papers

Religiosity and Same-Sex Marriage in the United States and Europe

Religiosity and Same-Sex Marriage in the United States and Europe