In 2020, Utah County implemented two legal and technological innovations that radically broadened couples’ access to lawful marriage. These innovations—which eliminated couples’ need to physically appear at a county office to apply for a marriage license or be married by a county official—unexpectedly opened access to legal marriage to thousands of couples around the world. In this talk, Dr. López explores the origins and consequences of these changes, as well as their significance for contemporary understandings of citizenship and belonging.
Dr. Jane Lilly López is an associate professor of sociology at BYU. Dr. López studies and teaches about issues related to social inequality and social policy, with a focus on citizenship, migration, and transnationalism. Her book, Unauthorized Love: Mixed-Citizenship Couples Negotiating Intimacy, Immigration and the State, examines the intersections of immigration, citizenship, and family in the law and in everyday life.
Part of the Kennedy Center's fall 2025 lecture series, "The Future of Citizenship."