Parents influence their children's educational experiences in part via school selection. This process is particularly complex for families with multiple minority, potentially stigmatized, statuses. This qualitative study examines middle-class lesbian and gay (LG) adoptive parents' school decision-making. Parents' economic resources provided the foundation for how parents weighed child/family identities (children's race, LG-parent family structure, child's special needs) and school-related concerns (e.g., academic rigor). For White gay male-headed families in affluent urban communities, financial resources muted racial and

Prior research has documented shifts in sexual orientation identity, attractions, and partnering behavior over time and social context, commonly referred to as sexual fluidity (Diamond, 2008). Social contextual factors may include relationship status and type of relationship, and these may be particularly salient in polyamorous communities where multiple relationships and some degree of fluidity are common. Also common, and potentially important for experiences of fluidity, are nonheteronormativities and nonmononormativities. This study aimed to explore the sexual trajectories (experiences of sexual identity, sexual attractions, and sexual and romantic partnering) over time in people of diverse relational identities and genders. A sample of 55 polyamorous or otherwise consensually nonmonogamous individuals and 61 monoamorous individuals completed online questionnaires regarding sexual identity, attractions, and partnering behaviors at two time points approximately 7 months apart. Relational identity had a number of implications for sexuality. Polyamorous individuals were more likely than monoamorous participants to identify their sexuality in nonpolar and nontraditional ways. Polyamorous women shifted attraction ratings over time at a higher rate than polyamorous men or monoamorous women or men, and differences in present and ideal attractions at Time 1 partially predicted these shifts. Results indicate the importance of relational identity alongside sexual identity and gender in sexuality research.

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Little research has examined the experiences of plurisexual women (i.e., those with attractions to more than one gender) during the transition to parenthood, despite the fact that many plurisexual women intend to become parents. Further, no research has specifically explored plurisexual mothers' LGBTQ community connections, although many studies highlight the importance of social support for (a) sexual minority individuals and (b) mothers. The current study investigated LGBTQ community connection among 29 plurisexual women with different-gender partners during the perinatal period. Participants completed interviews once during late pregnancy, and three times in the year after giving birth. Thematic analysis of the interview data explored how participants conceptualized community, finding that women varied in their level of and desire for engagement in both LGBTQ and parenting communities. Participants' accounts suggested that various barriers restricted their involvement (e.g., practical barriers such as time constraints, community-level barriers such as perceived rejection from LGBTQ communities, and psychological factors such as internalized stigma). At the same time, several women identified LGBTQ others as sources of support during the transition to parenthood, and many expressed a desire for their children to be connected to LGBTQ communities. Findings have implications for how researchers conceptualize community, provide insight into the disconnection between plurisexual women and LGBTQ communities, and suggest possibilities to increase LGBTQ community accessibility during this period.

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Male-partnered sexual minority women (SMW) have received little research attention, despite the fact that they represent a large proportion of SMW – particularly child-bearing SMW. Male-partnered SMW are less “out” than female-partnered SMW and will likely be “read” as heterosexual by perinatal providers. Given this, and evidence that pregnant women have unique mental health care needs, the current study focuses on male-partnered SMW (n = 28) during the perinatal period, recruited from Toronto, Canada and Massachusetts, USA, in an effort to understand disclosure and concealment processes in general and to perinatal heath care providers specifically. Women generally reported that they did not disclose (but made no effort to conceal) their sexual identities and histories in new or unfamiliar relationships, largely because the topic rarely came up, although some women highlighted bisexual invisibility and fear of biphobia as reasons for non-disclosure. Despite overall positive experiences with perinatal providers, less than one-quarter of the sample (n = 6) had disclosed their sexual identities and histories to them. Most women felt that this information was generally not relevant to their health care, and particularly their reproductive/obstetric care, although some believed that disclosure would be appropriate under conditions of sexual health risk (n = 8). Others noted that although they did not feel the need to disclose, they did prefer an LGBQ-affirming provider (n = 7). Findings provide insight into male-partnered SMW’s views and patterns of disclosure during the perinatal period, and have implications for providers, organizations, and scholars who interface with SMW. Pregnant sexual minority women with male partners are often assumed to be heterosexual, raising questions about whether and when these women disclose their sexual minority status in the perinatal context. This qualitative study of 28 women found that most participants did not share their sexual identity or sexual histories with their perinatal health care providers because this information was perceived as not relevant to their care, although some women nevertheless valued having LGBTQ friendly providers.

OBJECTIVES: Non-monosexual women -those who report attraction to or sexual relationships with individuals of more than one gender -have elevated risk for poor mental health outcomes. We aimed to examine which elements of non-monosexual experience are associated with this elevated risk. METHODS:We conducted a sequential exploratory mixed methods analysis of qualitative interview and survey data from 39 non-monosexual women recruited consecutively through prenatal care providers. Qualitative analyses identified distinguishing features, and quantitative analyses tested associations between these features and mental health symptoms.RESULTS: Nine qualitative themes were identified to describe distinguishing features of non-monosexual women. Of these, current and past five years partner gender, lack of LGBTQ community connection, and low centrality of sexual minority identity were associated with anxiety symptoms. Latent class analysis revealed significantly higher levels of anxiety symptoms among non-monosexual women partnered with men relative to those partnered with women.CONCLUSION: Sexual minority women who partner with men may be particularly at risk for poor mental health. Considering this group's invisibility in public health research and practice, interventions are needed to address this disparity.KEY WORDS: Bisexuality; mental health; qualitative research; questionnaire design La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.Can J Public Health 2017;108(3):e296-e305 doi: 10.17269/CJPH.108.5884 S exual minority women (SMW; e.g., lesbian, bisexual) report higher rates of mental health problems compared to heterosexual women, 1,2 and bisexual women in particular report higher rates of poor outcomes than both lesbian and heterosexual women. 3,4 More limited evidence suggests that these disparities also extend to people of other sexual identities who report sexual attraction to or behaviour with both men and women. For example, studies have found elevated levels of outcomes such as psychological distress among "mostly heterosexual" individuals. 5,6 Considering that the identified health disparities appear to be associated with a variety of sexual orientation self-identities (including bisexual, mostly heterosexual, and queer, among others), recent research has turned to trying to understand the health status and predictors for the broader group of individuals reporting sexual attraction to and/or behaviour with both men and women -a group that has been collectively termed non-monosexual 7 or plurisexual 8 people.One challenge to this emerging body of research is the diversity of experience that is included within non-monosexual groupings. For example, non-monosexual categories may be defined on the basis of self-identity, sexual behaviour across a particular time period, or self-reported sexual attraction. Each of these definitions will capture a different group of women, 9,10 and may include women with a variety of sexual orientation identities, women who are currently partnered with people of va...