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Ms. Y is a MTF (male‐to‐female) woman. The purpose of the interview is to examine the problematics of leading a life that is perceived as different in the workplace and in private.

The paper discusses common problems faced by transsexuals at work.

Ms. Y divulges some personal and intimate thoughts, in particular her thoughts about dress codes, difficulties at work and becoming herself.

The interview comments highlight the lack in the pace of change and persistent attitudes towards transsexuals.

The purpose of this paper is to present an interview with academic and author, Professor Jeffrey Weeks.

The paper discusses the significance of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and same‐sex relationships.

Professor Weeks divulges some personal and intimate thoughts, in particular his thoughts about marriage.

The interview comments highlight the pace of change in relation to same‐sex partnership recognition.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the likelihood of successfully introducing constitutional changes to the definition of marriage in Germany.

The paper examines the values underpinning the German constitution through academic writing and case law.

Fundamental change is unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future, despite EU case law.

Incremental changes have taken place in all countries. These have begun in the workplace and spread to more fundamental areas such as challenges to marriage definitions in many countries. In a conservative country such as Germany the fact that even the highest constitutional court has come close to opening the door to change can be interpreted to mean the wait will not be too long.

The paper provides a comparative analysis that will highlight the types of arguments that have been successfully pushed through the courts as well as persuading political actors to enact positive legislation.

The purpose of the article is to examine the problems faced by transsexuals in the workplace, in particular to analyse whether the applicable anti‐discrimination laws in the United Kingdom are effective in preventing harassment of transsexuals in the workplace.

The paper discusses common problems faced by transsexuals at work, including dress codes.

There are few UK cases dealing with these issues and the law has so far not been effective at stopping discriminatory behaviour towards transsexuals in the workplace. A more supportive approach is required.

There are few, if any, articles that specifically look at the effect on transsexuals of dress codes, law and organisational change in this way.

This paper seeks to explore the attitudes of lesbian mothers towards same‐sex marriage, focusing in particular on how they perceive the relationship between marriage and children's best interests.

The paper draws on 36 semi‐structured interviews with lesbian mothers living in British Columbia and Alberta, comparing their views on marriage and children's best interests with those articulated by lesbian and gay litigants during the Canadian same‐sex marriage campaign.

It was found that few of the mothers made any positive link between having married parents and children's best interests. Only a quarter of the couples had married or intended to marry.

Whether the views expressed in this research will be embraced by the next generation of lesbian mothers is difficult to predict. Prospective lesbian mothers will be able to marry before having children, will likely experience greater societal pressure to marry, and may have weaker ties to feminist politics. The issue should be revisited to see whether the views expressed in the research resonate with the next generation of mothers.

Law reform directed at same‐sex families should not presume that lesbians perceive there to be any positive relationship between marriage and children's best interests.

The paper provides empirical data on how lesbian mothers understand the relationship, if any, between having married parents and children's best interests. It challenges the universality of the very traditional views expressed in the same‐sex marriage litigation, and argues that amongst the wider lesbian mothering community attitudes towards the relationship between marriage and parenting are considerably more diverse.

Dress and appearance codes are often seen as trivial, both because they seem to fit within our notions of how people ought to behave, and because they appear to reflect legitimate employer concerns in running a business. But they are not constructed in a vacuum. They reflect and enshrine societal stereotypes and expectations of women and men and how they look – including assumptions about gender and sexuality and majoritarian norms. As such, they punish anyone who is an outlier by reason of gender, sexuality, race, religion, or culture. This paper seeks to identify the assumptions and effects on gender, sexuality, professionalism and class in appearance and behavior codes.

This is a conceptual paper exploring US case law on dress codes and employee appearance standards to examine issues of gender and sexual orientation identity on the job. By combining insights from sexual orientation identity theories and visibility, the paper seeks to uncover some of the interactions and effects of these appearance policies on women and LGBT persons in the workplace.

This paper shows that identity strategies and performances used by LGBT individuals and women in the workplace implicate sexuality and gender, but also professionalism and class. These dress and appearance codes carry with them consequences for both employers and employees.

The paper highlights the gender, sexuality and identity performance burdens on women and sexual minorities workplace controls over dress and appearance.

The paper discusses topics that are of interest to persons studying sexuality and gender identity issues in employment. It is based on an unpublished talk at the EDI conference in Vienna 2010.

Following the landmark 2003 Ontario Court of Appeal decision legalizing same‐sex marriage, some same‐sex couples sought to formalize their unions through legal marriage. The purpose of this paper is to explore the personal and political reflections of recently married same‐sex couples on the meaning of their marriages for themselves, their partners, their community as well as the implications for progressive social change in the broader social world.

An ethnographic approach was employed to semi‐structured in‐depth qualitative interviews with six lesbian and gay couples.

An emerging thesis is that, while seeking access to a most conventional and conformist institution, same‐sex couples inadvertently become “cutting edge” couples as they make public their declarations of love and commitment and model new and challenging notions of marriage.

The paper provides a snapshot of a small number of interviews that took place approximately 11 months after the Ontario Court of Appeal decision.

Law should take into account the importance of social and legal recognition of marriage for all. The heteronormativity of marriage is thus challenged from within, to make these types of marriages truly cutting edge.

The paper provides evidence of the personal and political reflections of people who had the choice to get married and did, at a time when this was seen as really cutting edge. Few personal accounts exist which provide a picture of the continued importance of marriage to human beings.

Organisations seek to manage and control the dress, appearance and behaviour of their employees for strategic corporate advantage but what are the far‐reaching implications of this for employers and employees? This paper aims to identify the explicit and implicit codes for appearance and behaviour imposed by management and co‐workers.

Adopting a case study approach using ethnographic methods, this research, conducted in a recruitment agency specialising in placing construction industry personnel, draws on data obtained from four in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with senior managers, a focus group with female employees and participant observation methods, and provides an intriguing insight into the grooming and packaging of female employees. Findings – Findings show this aesthetic and behavioural “packaging” of the female employees comes with consequences for client, employer and employee. The females cannot escape the aesthetic and sexualised image imposed upon them as management strategy and often have no choice but to “perform” for clients to manipulate situations for their own advantage.

Because of the research approach adopted and the relatively small sample size, generalizability is limited. It would be helpful to replicate the study in other settings.

The paper highlights the existence of official and unofficial controls over dress, appearance and behaviour and the pressure exerted on women in the workplace.

In total, 11 US legal jurisdictions have enacted registration schemes of various types. The purpose of this paper is to clarify, describe and analyse the developments of these various same‐sex relationship types in the USA and the role State constitutions play in this process.

The paper analyses the various types of registration schemes and categorises them into different theoretical themes as well as analysing the jurisdictions which permit and prohibit same‐sex relationship legal recognition.

The findings indicate that State constitutions have been used in order to gain access to legal recognition as well as to deny access to rights and duties of legally recognised relationships. A classification has been put forward which categorises and catalogues which states have used their constitutions to prohibit as well as permit same‐sex marriage and registered same‐sex relationships.

This type of categorisation is valuable in attempting to keep track of and understand the very fast‐moving area of law and law making, especially for other legal jurisdictions which may be able to use the theoretical approach of one of the US states.