Lecturer in Social Work Mike Thomas, of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, is featured in The Conversation writing about same-sex marriage.
His comment on the impact of the new legislation on the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the UK was published on 29 March – the first anniversary of the law taking effect – and has so far attracted more than 14,000 reads.
His research is based on interviews with same-sex couples in the UK, the US and Canada about their experience of marriage and civil partnership.
Dr Thomas comments: ‘It’s exactly a year since the first lesbian and gay couples were married in England and Wales and almost ten years since civil partnerships were introduced. This fundamental advance in legal recognition has been hailed as a dramatic transformation in the lives of the UK’s lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
‘But what real-life impact has the right to marry or enter a civil partnership actually had on lesbian and gay couples – and why has initial take-up of same-sex marriage been so low?’
Dr Thomas concludes: ‘Far too many lives are still blighted by prejudice and discrimination. As I found in my own research, this holds true for lesbian and gay couples’ experience of marriage and civil partnership as well. Legal reform only takes us so far; it’s usually one of the first steps towards real equality, but it’s certainly not the final one.
‘So one year on, we should raise a glass to same-sex marriage, but not lose sight of the challenges that lie ahead in delivering meaningful, day-to-day equality.’
Dr Thomas, of the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, also featured in The Conversation on 22 August 2014, writing about the first statistics on same-sex marriages in England and Wales.