Based on extensive couple and individual interviews with young same sex couples who have legally formalized their relationships, this book argues that same sex marriages as they are lived need to be understood in terms of interlinked developments in lesbian and gay life, heterosexual relationships and in personal life.

Introduction 1. Ordinary Lives, Vital Relationships: Same-sex Marriage in Context 2. Relationships, Partnerships and Marriages 3. Relational Biographies 4. Forming and Formalising Relationships 5. Money, Couples and the Self 6. Sex and Security 7. Couple Worlds Conclusion

Brian Heaphy is Professor and Head of Sociology at the University of Manchester, UK.
Carol Smart is Professor and Director of the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life at the University of Manchester, UK.
Anna Einarsdottir is a Research Associate in the Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester, UK.