Framing Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex marriage legislation has been a central issue in mainstream political communication since Massachusetts first legalized same-sex marriages in May 2004. Oregon and Georgia both proposed and approved bans on same-sex marriage at the November 2004 elections, but did so with varying levels of voter approval (57% and 76%, respectively). The issue of same-sex marriage is complex; thus, this study outlines the histories of marriage and gay rights. In addition, many of the perspectives that figured prominently in this debate are articulated. This project’s case study used Semetko’s and Valkenburg’s (2000) “five common frames” to deductively and quantitatively analyze and compare the frames utilized in newspaper coverage of same-sex marriage legislation in The Oregonian and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Results showed non-significant differences between the newspapers, but the combined sample revealed significant differences in overall frame use. The most often used frames in this study were the conflict and/or morality frames.