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Phd Thesis Entitled “A White Wedding? the Racial Politics of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada”, Under the Supervision of Dr

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Phd Thesis Entitled “A White Wedding? the Racial Politics of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada”, Under the Supervision of Dr A White Wedding? The Racial Politics of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada by Suzanne Judith Lenon A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto © Copyright by Suzanne Judith Lenon (2008) A White Wedding? The Racial Politics of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Suzanne Judith Lenon Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education University of Toronto Abstract In A White Wedding? The Racial Politics of Same-Sex Marriage, I examine the inter-locking relations of power that constitute the lesbian/gay subject recognized by the Canadian nation-state as deserving of access to civil marriage. Through analysis of legal documents, Parliamentary and Senate debates, and interviews with lawyers, I argue that this lesbian/gay subject achieves intelligibility in the law by trading in on and shoring up the terms of racialized neo-liberal citizenship. I also argue that the victory of same-sex marriage is implicated in reproducing and securing a racialized Canadian national identity as well as a racialized civilizational logic, where “gay rights” are the newest manifestation of the modernity of the “West” in a post-9/11 historical context. By centring a critical race/queer conceptual framework, this research project follows the discursive practices of respectability, freedom and civility that circulate both widely and deeply in this legal struggle. I contend that in order to successfully shed its historical markers of degeneracy, the lesbian/gay subject must be constituted not as a sexed citizen but rather as a neoliberal citizen, one who is intimately tied to notions of privacy, property, autonomy and freedom of choice, and hence one who is racialized as white. The critical race/queer analytic also attends to the temporal and spatial registers framing this legal struggle that re-install various troubling racial hierarchies in a “gay rights” project often lauded as progressive. This analysis of the discursive terrain of same-sex marriage reveals the race ii shadow that lies at the heart of this equality-rights struggle. The conclusion of this thesis provides reflections for developing an ethics of activism that dislodges and resists the (re)production of racialized relations of power in lesbian and gay equality rights activism. In so doing, I seek to provoke, question and re-draw the landscape of our thinking, not only about same-sex marriage but also about the terms with which we conceive, articulate and practice racial and sexual justice. iii Acknowledgements I want first of all to warmly thank my thesis committee for their guiding this research and thesis with acumen: To my supervisor, Sherene Razack, for always pushing me to deepen the analysis, and for inspiring scholarship from which I have learned so much; to Kari Dehli, for always being tremendously encouraging: my work has greatly benefited from your engaged, incisive feedback; and to Heather Sykes, for always responding enthusiastically to my work and for help with guidance in my hesitant yet curious dance with psychoanalytic concepts. I also want to extend appreciation to two people/scholars who were not on my committee but who were instrumental at various points during my doctoral tenure: Alissa Trotz, for being so supportive and for your exemplary commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship; and Sheryl Nestel, for being such a gracious witness to “affect” in the classroom and for exemplifying integrity in your teaching. To the people who agreed to be interviewed for this dissertation, thank you for the generosity of your time and the reflections on your legal activism. Special thanks to Joe Warren, my “same-sex marriage-PhD-buddy”, for the sharing of resources and the too infrequent in-person but happily numerous email conversations pondering the various pros and cons, and “ins and outs” of this issue. Thanks also to Marie Vander Kloet for providing a thorough read and helpful feedback at a critical moment. I am incredibly fortunate to be so deeply loved by my wonderful parents, siblings, niece and nephews, grandmother, aunts and uncles; and to be so deeply sustained by wonderful friendships. In particular, I extend much gratitude to: my mom and dad, Jo and Pat Lenon, for having provided a quiet space and time in which to write, and more importantly, for your unwavering faith in my abilities; my grandma, Daisy Wilson (Marguerita Garossino), for financial support and for walking towards acceptance of my lesbian life; Marsha Sfeir and Mary Tatham, for warmly and generously creating a “Toronto home” for me, one filled with laughter and care; Ted Bairstow, for the early lesson on “value added” that bore fruit in the final stages of writing; Marcia Carlyn, for constant, supportive encouragement; Rosemary Zak and Michael McCulloch, for all the fun times and sweet canoe memories: Thanks to all four of you for the years of cottage revelry that nourished both body and spirit! Paula McLeod, Rosemary Zak, Shelagh Lenon, Mara Lenon, Graham Smith, André Fontaine and D’Arcy McPherson all provided culinary, healing and moral support that carried me (and Annelies) through the last push of writing; Gada Mahrouse, “Thank you” is not a big enough word to express the extent of my appreciation for your kind spirit, for graciously reading various chapters, and for your keen sensibilities, pragmatism and intelligence. I cherish our friendship: Namasté. For steadfastly walking this particular journey with me, deep gratitude and love to Annelies van Oers. The love and generous care you provide are my bedrock. With your radical analytics and insistence upon justice, your broad sense of community and iv fantastic skill at bringing people together, your perseverance in the face of adversity, your sense of the sacred, your healing energy, and your love for all living creatures: You inspire me! v Epigraph For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out. ~James Baldwin, Nothing Personal vi Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iv Epigraph............................................................................................................................. vi Contents ............................................................................................................................ vii INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................3 Time as Progress..............................................................................................................3 Time as Palimpsestic .......................................................................................................3 Re-thinking the Terrain of Same-Sex Marriage ..............................................................5 “Between a Rock and A Hard Place”: The Promise and Limitations of Rights..............8 Writing Against Progress: Reading Practices & Critique .............................................14 Chapter Outlines ............................................................................................................16 CHAPTER ONE: Literature Review................................................................................19 Terms of the Debate ......................................................................................................22 “Will you marry me?”: Equality Rights and Transformative Potential ........................22 Equality......................................................................................................................22 Symbolic Recognition ...............................................................................................26 Transformative Potential ...........................................................................................31 “I’ll think about it…”: Feminist and Queer Critiques ...................................................35 Assimilation…and into what? ...................................................................................36 Relationship hierarchies: Good Gays/Bad Gays .......................................................41 Situating Race: Re-thinking the Politics of Normalization ...........................................46 (Un)Tying the Knot(s): Research Contributions ...........................................................54 CHAPTER TWO: Excavating the Racial Politics of Same-Sex Marriage: Conceptual Framework & Methodologies .........................................57 Racialization and “Whiteness” as a Normative Position...............................................59 Re-Thinking Queer Beyond Sexuality ..........................................................................71 Discourse, Subjectivity, Power......................................................................................75
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