They married for love but keep it quiet: Same sex partners in Iceland

• Published in: Sexualities
• Main Author: Einarsdóttir, Anna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2013
• Subjects: Anthropology; Gender Studies; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1363460713497213; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1363460713497213; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1363460713497213

Iceland is one of a few countries where the recognition of same sex relationships has been practised since the 1990s. This article is based on a mixed method study among civil partners in Iceland and explains why people choose to marry. Whilst the questionnaire data signalled that most people marry for love, love marriages were difficult to explore in the face-to-face interaction, as was the multiple understandings of security. Claiming citizenship rights, in contrast, was generally framed as marrying for the ‘right’ reasons, readily articulated by everyone involved in this study. I argue that this hesitance may partly be explained by the campaign for same sex partnership itself, which promoted security discourses rather than emotional freedom, and consequently hindered the flow of love narratives.