Gay and lesbian politics: assimilation or subversion: a Danish perspective

The article discusses the trajectory of lesbian and gay politics in Denmark, from the 1970s to the 1990s. It argues that, as part of the social and cultural change, marriage has become an empty institution; hence the ostensibly remarkable progress that gay and lesbian couples have also been conceded a marriage-like status. However, while pursuing this right, lesbian and gay organizations may have been too compliant with middle-class ideals of "decent" lifestyles; entering a registered partnership may become a new norm which excludes "less respectable" modes of homosexual lifestyles. The radical potential of homosexuality as a manifestation of the variety of lifestyles should not be jettisoned in the name of politics of assimilation.