The religious construction of sexual citizenship: The role of religious ideologies in Canadian law

Abstract

The central focus of this thesis is to examine the construction of the following categories of identity; religious ideology, sexuality and sexual orientation and the subsequent use of these categories of identity to create standards of acceptance in law which are then framed as natural and normal. This thesis uses interdisciplinary theoretical methods and analysis to expose and analyze discursive constructs regarding interveners' facta. The focus of this analysis is the normalizing and marginalizing discursive processes of law in relation to legal and cultural standards regarding sexual normativity and sexual difference. Although same-sex marriages have been legal in Canada since 2005 and equality rights based on sexual orientation read into the Charter since 1995, the construction of homosexuality as inherently other to normative heterosexuality continues in legal and public discourse. The problem under examination is the means by which acceptance is granted in Canadian law and how the language of sexuality and same-sex relationships is structured via the religious interests of the interveners and judges. The influence of religious beliefs and religious groups has maintained structures of sexual normalcy in law and public discourse so that the sexually other must be desexualized to access rights and freedoms. Framed within these parameters, homosexual difference is constructed only as taboo unless it can be enveloped in the category of the normal. This analysis is accomplished through the application of multi-disciplinary theoretical approaches and analysis to legal discourse. Other forms of discourse are incorporated into the discussion to demonstrate the intertwined relationships of law and society with a specific view to language which co-opts sexual difference within a heteronormative vernacular.