The article addresses the emergence of same-sex relationships as a public policy issue in contemporary society. Historical and cross-cultural evidence shows how same-sex relationships have been an integral part of the kinship system, household economies and iconography of many societies, and that desire and relationship are produced in diverse ways at the confluence of kinship, gender and life stage expectations circulating in different societies. Recent history of the advanced, industrial societies is characterized by sharp shifts in the conceptualization of same-sex relationships, from sin, sickness and crime to a patchwork of ‘relationship recognition’ forms in just a few decades. Relationship recognition and ‘gay marriage’ are just the beginning of a process of documenting and affirming relationship innovation among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. On the horizon are looming new debates over reproductive rights, child-raising, the (over)valorization of the couple, and social service provision throughout the life course.
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