Doing same-sex families in Europe

Same-sex families are a recent legal reality in Europe. Socially and politically, they have been recognized only since 1989. Legal recognition spread over Europe in a two-phase process. At first, a specific and separated status (registered partnerships, civil union, Eingetragene Partner-schaft) has been granted to same-sex families, adding substantially to their social visibility. Subsequently , same-sex families have gained access to the general status of marriage. This second phase closes the phase of specific visibility and brings same-sex families back into the discretion of private life. A European overview of this double process may help our understanding of how homosexuality is socially and politically managed in different regions of Europe. Same-sex families are also a recent socio-demographic reality. Same-sex couples and families emerged in the twentieth and twenty first century. This paper will present socio-demographic facts on European same-sex families. It will also hazard some hypotheses on how these families seem to develop and how they are managed in Europe.