The Politics of Gay Marriage in Latin America
Argentina, Chile, and Mexico

Díez explores how and why Latin America has become a leader among nations in the passage of gay marriage legislation.

Jordi Díez (Author)

9781107491854, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 September 2016

304 pages
23 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

'In this first book by a single author on the politics of gay marriage in Latin America, Jordi Díez … offers his take on why gay marriage has met divergent receptions across the region. As such, the book is both path-breaking and a welcome addition to the growing scholarship on Latin American gay rights politics.' Omar G. Encarnacion, ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America

Addressing one of the defining social issues of our time, The Politics of Gay Marriage in Latin America explores how and why Latin America, a culturally Catholic and historically conservative region, has become a leader among nations of the Global South, and even the Global North, in the passage of gay marriage legislation. In the first comparative study of its kind, Jordi Díez explains cross-national variation in the enactment of gay marriage in three countries: Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. Based on extensive interviews in the three countries, Díez argues that three main key factors explain variation in policy outcomes across these cases: the strength of social movement networks forged by activists in favor of gay marriage; the access to policy making afforded by particular national political institutions; and the resonance of the frames used to demand the expansion of marriage rights to same-sex couples.

1. Introduction
Part I. Setting the Stage: 2. Citizenship, sexuality, and gay marriage
3. State-society relations in the twentieth century
4. Early mobilization: the long road to gay marriage
Part II. Explaining Policy Stasis and Change in Gay Marriage: 5. Argentina: the precursor in policy reform
6. Mexico: a case of fragmented reform
7. Chile: a case of policy stasis
8. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Gender & the law [LAQG], Regional government policies [JPRB], Politics & government [JP], Hispanic & Latino studies [JFSL4], Gender studies, gender groups [JFSJ]