Class, mobility and inequality in the lives of same-sex couples with mixed legal statuses

Abstract

Seeking to overcome the heterosexual bias in marriage-migration scholarship and move beyond individualistic approaches to queer mobility, this article focuses on the lives of same-sex couples that hold unequal residence statuses. In a twofold context marked by the increasing legal recognition of same-sex families combined with heightened hurdles facing certain categories of immigrants, we examine what those simultaneous trends mean for these couples. Based on 42 interviews conducted in France, the Netherlands and the United States with people from a variety of class backgrounds, we show how higher resource levels moderate the impact of constraining legal frameworks without suppressing them. We distinguish between low-resource homogamous, heterogamous, and high-resource homogamous couples. The first configuration often results in forced immobility and separation. In heterogamous couples, conjugality becomes a major pathway to legal status for the migrant spousepotentially feeding suspicions of instrumentality. In contrast, privileged migrants in a homogamous couple tend to relate to law in less of a binary way and experience regulations as more easily surmountable. Yet, for them, securing permanent residence represents but one objective among several (including their careers and studies), an investment often disconnected from their matrimonial relationship and at times in competition with it.

Contesting categories: cross-border marriages from the perspectives of the state, spouses and researchers

“…Other articles illuminate the salience of categories related to social class in marriage migration. Based on a study in France, the Netherlands and the United States, Chauvin et al (2019) show that higherincome same-sex couples have more chances to live together than poor couples, without necessarily having to use family-reunification channels. Wray, Kofman, and Simic (2019) show that British people with low incomes but high cultural capital are able to strategically play with legal categories and relocate to another EU country with their non-EU spouse, taking advantage of the more generous rights secured by the EU for its citizens.…”

“…One's social status in one place may translate into a very different status elsewhere (Nieswand 2011;Moret 2018). Chauvin et al (2019) dissect how these diverging social statuses play out in cross-border couples' ability and decision to move or not move, and in what direction. Jashari, Dahinden, and Moret (2019) further demonstrate the effect of transnationalised discourses on future marriage migrants in their country of origin and how these migrants develop counter-narratives in their attempts to meet European standards.…”

“…Given the multiple forms of marriage, it is surprising that the problematisation of the term has never been a central issue in the study of cross-border marriages. Indicative of migration scholars' reliance on states' definition of marriage is the fact that only after the institutionalisation of 'marriage equality' in many countries has there been a gradual increase in the number of studies on same-sex marriage migration (Chauvin et al, 2019). Nevertheless, crossborder same-sex couples existed before and managed to live together by following non-family-based migration channels.…”

Intimate citizenship: introduction to the special issue on citizenship, membership and belonging in mixed-status families

“…We investigate the interaction of citizens with foreign spouses with migration authorities (De Hart and Besselsen 2020;Block 2020) as well as their collective mobilisation in social movements (Odasso 2020). Regrettably, the issue does not touch upon samesex couples (see however Chauvin et al 2019) and only sheds limited light on the experiences of citizen sponsors with a migration background or male sponsors (Odasso 2020;Block 2020). We hope to spur further research on how intimate citizenship is performed by mixed-status families and how their experiences differ based on gender, sexuality, class and ethnicity.…”

Family Migration and Integration: <i>The Need for a New Research Agenda</i>

“…Anthias, Kontos & Morokvasic 2013b;Kofman, Saharso & Vacchelli 2015;van Walsum & Spijkerboer 2007). Moreover, most existing research on family migration seems to focus on heterosexual married couples (for a recent contribution on same-sex couples, see Chauvin et al 2019). While spouses constitute the majority of family migrants, more than one-quarter of all family migrants moving to the OECD in 2015 were children (OECD 2017: 109).…”