Discourses of difference and equality: Representations of gay couples in Chilean parliamentary debates on the civil-partnership law (2011–2015)

This critical discourse study analyses representations of gay couples in the 2011–2015 Chilean parliamentary debates on the civil-partnership law. Examining concordances for homosexual * and mismo sexo ( same-sex ), it identifies how gay people are portrayed as vulnerable, uncommon, or unexceptional. The analysis focuses on the competing representations of gay people as fundamentally different from (Set 1) or the same as (Set 2) heterosexual people. Set 1 reveals a homophobic stance built on three biologistic and traditionalist arguments: that marriage is an exclusively heterosexual institution, that gay couples cannot parent, and that they cannot constitute a family. Conversely, Set 2 challenges these by reframing family and reappropriating opponents’ legitimation strategies (e.g. authority, morality). The study illuminates the linguistic mechanisms of exclusion during a pivotal period of legal transition, showing how equality proponents strategically redeployed discriminatory rhetoric to contest homophobia and advance social justice.