The Strange Victory of a Defeated Movement: Social and Political Outcomes of the French Mobilization Against Gay Marriages

The legalization of same-sex marriages in several countries was an apparent defeat for those social mobilizations that contested the extension of gay rights. However, the success or failure of every social movement can be better evaluated by considering its medium or long-term impact. A paradigmatic case is provided by the recent social mobilization against homosexual marriages in France. Even though the massive social protests of 2013 could not impede the introduction of full marriage and adoption rights for homosexual couples, the debate on the law was followed by the retreat and procrastination of several government proposals for less-restrictive family and bioethical norms, the diffusion of morally conservative ideas among French political society, and the formation of well-organized opposition led by civil society organizations that is protesting against every further liberalization of the family legislation. This paper investigates the social and political outcomes of the French mobilization against homosexual marriages and explores its social and political influence.

The paper begins by individuating several issues that the current scholarship on moral politics has not adequately investigated. Then, it illustrates the social and political outcomes of the French social mobilization against same-sex marriages in a comparative perspective. Finally, it discusses the contribution of the conclusions drawn from the French case for a reconsideration of several aspects of the existing literature on the relationship between social movements and changing sexual norms in Western countries.