“Sociologically speaking”: Law,sexuality and social change

Historically, legal discourse affirms the apparent naturalness of the heterosexual family, contributing to the invisibility of social processes which privilege heterosexuality. In this paper, Herman examines ways in which this naturalization and invisibility are the result of the delegitimation of knowledges which challenge the ‘Truth’ of law. Exploring the role of the sociologist as expert witness in the recent Mossop decisions, but also aspects of other recent lesbian and gay litigation, Herman raises a number of questions about the relationship between meaning and truth in law, and the constitution of sexual identity through the legal process. In so doing, she raises questions central to feminist theory.