The ideology of intensive mothering in the parliamentary debate about lesbian and gay parenthood

Although most European countries have already legislated on same-sex couples and their children, Italy recognized same-sex civil unions only in 2016 (Law 76/2016). However, the section on adoption rights initially laid down in the law proposal was so controversial that it had to be deleted in order for the law to pass, thus denying lesbian and gay parents the legal protection they need. This study analyses the parliamentary debate on the recognition of same-sex couples and their children that took place in Italy during the period from July 2013 to May 2016. Specifically, through a Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough 2001, 2003) of the speeches of Parliamentarians who opposed the section of the bill concerning lesbian and gay parenthood, the study aims at understanding what are the discursive strategies currently used by the hegemonic heteronormative power to maintain the exclusive heterosexual access to reproduction and kinship in Italy. The empirical analysis shows that the discursive strategies deployed by MPs to combat the challenges to the heteronormative family shared a reference to the hegemonic model of gender which reiterates women’s supposed caring virtues and limits the possibility for change in gender arrangements (Segal, 1999). Parliamentarians’ speeches construed gender complementarity as the only access to reproduction and the requisite for good and healthy parenting (Bertone, 2017). Findings highlight that the opposition to the recognition of gay and lesbian parents contributes to reiterating restrictive standards of motherhood and to maintaining the institutionalization of sexualities and reproduction within the patriarchal order (Rich, 1977; Rubin, 1975).