Well Done Break-Ups? Normalization and Resistance in a Finnish LGBTIQ+ Separation Support Group

This article analyses cultural meanings given to LGBTIQ+ break-ups in a separation support group in Finland. It examines how the cultural meanings produced in the group participate in the process of aligning LGBTIQ+ relationships with heteronormative relationship culture, and resistance to this normalization. Based on an analysis of the group’s structure, therapeutic framework and peer discussions between participants, we argue that the group added to the normalization of LGBTIQ+ relationships by emphasizing an individualized perspective and sidelining the importance of societal positions. Simultaneously, however, the group created space for LGBTIQ+ community and culture by maintaining ties to politics of the LGBTIQ+ movement. Our analysis shows that instead of fully succumbing to the heteronormative model, therapeutic services for LGBTIQ+ people can be complex processes involving both normalization and resistance.