Conflicts and Shifting Landscape Around Same-Sex Relationships

Conflicts and choice of law questions arising from marriage recognition are more multidimensional today than ever before. Traditionally, these conflicts arose because one jurisdiction allowed marriage between two individuals while another prohibited such a marriage. This was the model in the consanguineous, polygamous, and interracial marriage contexts. It has also been the primary model for analyzing conflicts that arise in the context of same-sex relationships. In a forthcoming article, Resolving Interstate Conflicts Arising from Interstate Non-Marriage, I challenge this model, and suggest that the emergence of marriage-like 2 and marriage-lite3 alternatives (i.e., civil unions, domestic partnerships, reciprocal benefits arrangements, etc.) for same-sex couples complicates and requires additional nuance in our conflicts analysis. The article also suggests that different jurisdictions with different recognition regimes for these kinds of non-marriage relationships ought to resolve such conflicts differently--even if they apply the very same conflicts methodology