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The Open University's repository of research publications and other research outputs The organisation of sexuality and the sexuality of organisation: A genealogical analysis of sexual 'inclusive exclusion' at work

After many years of heated debate, in 2016 the Italian parliament approved a law to regulate same-sex civil unions. Although this can be considered a significant step towards the equality of lesbian and gay couples, the law preserves legal differences between heterosexual marriage and homosexual union and does not guarantee the rights of lesbian and gay parents and their children. In this article, we analyze the public debate on same-sex couples and gay and lesbian parenting that occurred in Italy while the parliament was discussing the law. Findings highlight that the ‘natural order’ argument and the irreducible differences between heterosexual marriage and same-sex union are the bedrock of the current expression of heteronormativity in Italy.

LGBTQ activists have a crucial role in fighting sexuality-based discrimination. However, homonormativity can lead activists to adhere to hegemonic heteronormativity, thus threatening their efforts to widen the concept of family. Drawing on the Gramscian notion of hegemony, this article analyzes the notion of heteronormativity and its homonormative facet as a form of hegemony that impacts activists, sustaining the premises of heteronormativity and seeking inclusion within such norms. This research investigates the hegemonic heteronormative assumptions that endure in the discourses of Italian LGBTQ activists when they talk about lesbian and gay parenting. Findings highlight the presence of heteronormative traces in their discourses, namely in terms of access to reproduction, the parents' place within the regime of gender, and the right standards for child rearing. Hegemonic heteronormativity appears in multiform ways, and as largely consensual even to those it more directly oppresses, making it difficult to detect and therefore to deconstruct.

in reifying the uniqueness of heterosexual relationships and parenthood.Lesbian and gay parenthood was the preeminent bone of contention over the three-yearslong debate because of Section number 5 of the draft bill, which would recognize the right of one partner to adopt the biological children of the other partner, thus supposedly introducing a view of the family independent of the two genders (Garbagnoli, 2014). As a result, the section of the bill on adoption rights was so controversial that it had to be deleted in order for the law to pass, thus continuing to alienate lesbians and gays from kinship (Weston, 1991) and reasserting the control of heteronormativity over Italian politics despite the fact that the country has partially filled the legislative gap on this matter. This article investigates the parliamentary debate on the recognition of same-sex couples and their children that took place in Italy during the period from Specifically, through a Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough 2001(Fairclough , 2003 of the speeches of Parliamentarians who opposed the section of the bill concerning lesbian and gay parenthood, the study addresses the following research questions: What are the discursive strategies currently used by the hegemonic heteronormative power to maintain the exclusive heterosexual access to reproduction and kinship? Did the hegemonic model of gender intelligibility inform legislative processes relating to family life and, if so, how?By framing the analysis within a poststructuralist feminist framework, the paper sheds light on the practices of power-knowledge (Foucault, 1978) that have been deployed to reallocate reproduction and kinship within the heterosexual matrix (Butler, 1990) once the parliamentary debate in Italy issued a challenge to the hegemonic heteronormative power. Moreover, this research offers a contribution to the understanding of how the conservative resistance to non-heterosexual families supports the institutionalization of sexualities and reproduction within the patriarchal order, which creates normative standards on the practices of motherhood (Hays, 1996;Rich, 1977) and, at

While research has traditionally analysed negative aspects of the work and family relationship by embracing a reductionist approach, over the past 20 years a number of studies have also focused on positive aspects. Our studies set out to validate the Italian version of the instrument developed by Kinnunen and cols. with a sample of 707 employees. Psychometric characteristics are presented, confirming the invariance of factorial structure and their validity in the Italian context. Results from different organizations confirm the four-factor model: negative work-to-family interface, negative familyto-work interface, positive work-to-family interface, and positive family-to-work interface. These results support the factorial validity and reliability of the Work-Family Interface Scale (WFIS) and its sustained use in organisational studies. Desarrollo y validación de una medida de la relación trabajo-familia R E S U M E N Aunque tradicionalmente la investigación ha analizado los aspectos negativos de la relación entre el trabajo y la familia usando un enfoque reduccionista, en los pasados 20 años un número de estudios se ha centrado en los aspectos positivos. Nuestros estudios tratan de validar la versión italiana del instrumento desarrollado por Kinnunen y cols., con una muestra de 707 empleados. Se presentan las características psicométricas, confirmando la invarianza de la estructura factorial y su validez en el contexto italiano. Los resultados en diferentes organizaciones confirman el modelo de cuatro factores: interacción negativa trabajo-familia, interacción negativa familia-trabajo, interacción positiva trabajo-familia e interacción positiva familia-trabajo. Estos resultados apoyan la validez factorial y la fiabilidad de la escala de interacción trabajo-familia (WFIS) y su uso sostenido en estudios organizacionales.

The cultural, social and institutional barriers that LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) individuals have to face play crucial roles in their desires and intentions to have children. However, unlike the many studies on the decision-making process in the transition to parenthood, few studies have analysed the origins of parenting desires and intentions among LGBT individuals. This study explores the desires and intentions to have children amongst a sample of childless lesbian and gay Italian individuals. A sample of 285 participants (127 women and 158 men) completed a research protocol composed of items evaluating the strength of their desire to have children, their intentions about having children and their general attitudes towards parenting. The findings revealed how, despite the persisting depth of heteronormativity in the country and the absence of legal protection for lesbian and gay parents, a large percentage of participants expressed the desire and intention to have a child. These parenting intentions would seem to be positively influenced mainly by the negative attitudes towards childlessness and by the value attributed to parenthood.