Same-sex families, more visible and more accepted: Effects of the Spanish same-sex marriage law

Abstract

This article intends to know the effect on Spanish homoparental families of the approval of same sex marriage in 2005. We interviewed 66 same-sex families either made of gay fathers (18) or lesbian mothers (48) that were together at least since 2004 and had children under 18. The aim was to evaluate each context in relation with the degree of coming out before and after the marriage approval with the purpose of understanding whether there were any differences. The obtained results indicate that both coming out and acceptance increased after the law was approved in those three areas in which it was analyzed: among their friendships, at workplace and with their families. The data are related to scientific literature and are discussed in the light of their implications for the development of homoparental family integration policies.