On the Border: Young Adults With LGBQ Parents Navigate LGBTQ Communities

• Published in: Journal of counseling psychology 2012-01, Vol.59 (1), p.71-85
• Main Authors: Goldberg, Abbie E., Kinkler, Lori A., Richardson, Hannah B., Downing, Jordan B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult Attitudes; Age Differences; Attitude; Behavior. Attitude; Belonging; Biological and medical sciences; Bisexuality; Borders; Child; Child Rearing; Child Rearing - psychology; Children; Communities; Community Relations; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Group Identity; Heterosexuality; Heterosexuals; Homosexual Parents; Homosexuality; Homosexuality, Female - psychology; Homosexuality, Male - psychology; Human; Humans; Identification; Identification (Psychology); Identity; Individuation; Interviews; Late Adolescents; Lesbianism; LGBTQ; LGBTQ community; LGBTQ people; LGBTQ studies; Life Span; Male; Male Homosexuality; Parent Child Relationship; Parent Influence; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Parents & parenting; Peer Group; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Qualitative Research; Sexual Orientation; Sexuality; Sexuality. Sexual behavior; Social Conformity; Social Environment; Social Identification; Social psychology; Social sciences; Social Support; Social Support Groups; United States; Young Adult; Young Adults
• ISSN: 0022-0167; 1939-2168
• DOI: 10.1037/a0024576

Little research has examined the perspectives of young adults with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) parents, particularly in relation to their identification with the LGBTQ community. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study of 42 young adults (ages 18-29) who were raised by LGBQ parents. We found that participants often described their sense of belonging to the LGBTQ community as shifting over the life course. Some participants, particularly those whose parents had always been out, felt connected to the LGBTQ community as children. Of these, most maintained those connections over time. However, some increasingly deidentified with the LGBTQ community, which they sometimes attributed to their own heterosexual identification. Others, particularly those whose parents came out later in life, described a lack of connection to the LGBTQ community as children. Of these, most became increasingly identified with the community, which they often attributed to their own and their parents' increasing sense of comfort with their parents' sexuality. Heterosexual participants who sought out LGBTQ-oriented groups in young adulthood sometimes encountered resistance from these groups, whereby participants' reasons for wanting to become involved were not readily apparent or appreciated. Our findings highlight the need for practitioners to understand the complex and often changing role of the LGBTQ community in the lives of young adults with LGBQ parents.