Not quite fundamentalist, beyond intolerance: ‘hostility’ and ‘hospitality’ in the gay and lesbian rights debate

Abstract

This article explores the possibilities and limits of the notions of ‘fundamentalism’, ‘tolerance’, and intolerance’, and assesses the potential gains brought by the notions of ‘hostility’ and ‘hospitality’ to the analysis of controversies about sexual politics. It elaborates on a controversy around the referendum on same-sex marriage in Ireland, in 2015. The discussion seeks to delineate the contours of the latter two notions as theoretical categories in Anthropology. The article consists of a theoretical discussion in the Anthropology of Religion, focused on controversies and the qualitative analysis of one case, based on documentary and bibliographical research.