Queer Tales of Morality: The Press, Same-Sex Marriage, and Hegemonic Framing

The framing contest of claims makers in the same-sex marriage debate offers the opportunity to examine the role of power and the cultural context in framing. Content and frame analyses of stories from daily papers and wire services, and textual analysis of marriage in stories published in the states with anti-same-sex marriage ballot initiatives reveal that although same-sex marriage-friendly frames appear more often than traditional-marriage frames, it is the latter that set the parameters of the debate. Coverage does little to challenge hegemonic heteronormative definitions of marriage, and it is the study's mixed-methods approach that reveals the complexities of the ideological characterization of the debate.