Homonormativity and queer resistance: LGBT activists' marriage discourses

Through interviews with LGBT and queer-identified activists in Washington, DC, this study explores the localized meanings of marriage as both a movement and personal goal in relation to activists' strategic, ideological and identity-based support or opposition. DC-based activists justified their beliefs about the movement agenda of marriage equality by engaging ideas about the local and national. Influenced by their social locations and personal identities, some activists (re)created narratives of being 'normal' and deserving the 'rights and responsibilities' of legal same-sex marriage. On the other hand, many interviewees deployed notions of privilege, oppression and the language of 'intersectionality' to resist the marriage agenda and the institution of marriage itself, yet overwhelmingly supported it as a 'practical' personal choice and ultimate movement goal. These findings contribute to the LGBT social movement literature and inform further empirical research on homonormativity and intersectionality in the activist setting.