Broken rainbows: the partisan politics of marriage equality in Europe

Although a growing number of European governments have legalized same-sex civil unions (SSU) and same-sex marriage (SSM) in the past two decades, others have moved in the opposite direction by stalling partnership legislation or adopting constitutional amendments defining marriage as a heterosexual institution. Why do some European countries move forward with SSU/SSM policies while others do not? Few studies have examined the effects of party politics on partnership laws and those that do highlight the positive influence of Left parties. We revisit this question and suggest that SSU/SSM legalization depends not on governments’ traditional left/right positioning as commonly claimed, but on their preferences for ‘traditional’ versus ‘self-expression’ values. Using event history analysis, we show that governments favoring postmaterialist, self-expression values are more likely to legalize SSU/SSM, irrespective of where they are situated on the conventional left/right spectrum. Along with suggesting that competition over SSU/SSM has not been absorbed into the left/right axis, our findings show the importance of political ideology, and not just social movements or public opinion, for the advancement of LGBT rights in Europe.