Coming Out with Our Children: Turning Points Facilitating Lesbian Parent Discourse with Their Children About Family Identity

Breshears, Diana

doi:10.1080/08934215.2010.511398

Cited by 33 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This study was a subset of a larger study of discourse of lesbian parents with their children concerning family identity (Breshears, 2010). In the larger study, lesbian parents discussed the critical conversations they had with their children to help the children understand their family identities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Communication Between Lesbian Parents and Their Children Regarding Outsider Discourse About Family Identity

Breshears

2011

Journal of GLBT Family Studies

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Gay fathers and lesbian mothers are aware of the potentially complex implications their family identity may have on their children. They know that they may someday have to deal with their children's concerns about their family being different and have the task of preparing them for the various challenges this difference may present in the larger culture. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the discussion of outsider communication between lesbian parents and their children regarding family identity. The central question guiding the present study was: How do lesbian parents communicate with their children about outsider discourse concerning family identity? Specifically, I explored what the outsiders said to the children concerning family identity, what the messages meant to the lesbian parents, and how lesbian parents discussed outsider communication with their children. Examining these questions allowed me to explore how lesbian parents and their children collectively experience outsider communication and what this means for their family identity. The participants in the present study were 13 lesbian parents who have raised or are raising at least one child with their same-sex partners. Findings and implications of the study are discussed.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Communication Between Lesbian Parents and Their Children Regarding Outsider Discourse About Family Identity

Breshears

2011

Journal of GLBT Family Studies

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“…Indeed, amidst a cultural context that defines family relationship in terms of biological and legal ties, children with LGB parents often must construct their families in the absence of such ties. Defining and asserting their family relationships in the absence of societal or legal recognition (e.g., marriage) may require a certain amount of work that, over time, can be stressful (Breshears, 2010).…”

Section: What About the Children?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Marriage (In)equality: The Perspectives of Adolescents and Emerging Adults With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Parents

Goldberg

Kuvalanka

2012

J of Marriage and Family

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The debate over whether same‐sex couples should be allowed to enter into civil marriages continues in the United States. Forty‐nine adolescents and emerging adults (ages 14–29) with lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents were interviewed for the current exploratory study, which examined how individuals perceived themselves and their families as being affected by marriage (in)equality, as well as the factors that shaped their perspectives. More than two thirds of participants voiced unequivocal support for marriage equality, citing numerous legal and symbolic benefits that their families were denied. One quarter of participants articulated critical perspectives of marriage or the fight for marriage equality, while also acknowledging the benefits associated with marriage. As the first study to examine the perspectives of individuals with lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents with regard to marriage (in)equality, this research has important implications for the marriage equality debate and provides a springboard for future studies on this topic.

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“…These families often experience conflicting messages of rejection and support from extended family members (Almack, 2007;Breshears, 2010;Breshears, 2011;Goldberg, 2007). More than half of adult children with lesbian parents in Kuvalanka's (2007) study reported experiencing homophobia within their extended families.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Communication scholars have begun to examine the ways in which lesbian parented families communicate and negotiate their familial identities through ritual and symbol use in the midst of stigmatization (Bergen, Suter, & Daas, 2006;Breshears, 2010;Breshears, 2011;Suter, Daas, & Bergen, 2008). One issue that remains understudied in lesbian and gay family research is the degree to which the conflicting discourses are present and interplay in children's communicative construction of familial identities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Discursive Struggles Animating Individuals’ Talk About Their Parents’ Coming Out as Lesbian or Gay

Breshears

Braithwaite

2014

Journal of Family Communication

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The goal in the present study was to understand the discourses that animate children's talk about having a parent come out and how these discourses interplay to create meaning. Data were gathered through 20 in-depth interviews with adults who remembered a parent coming out to them as lesbian or gay. One discursive struggle animated the participants' talk about their parents' coming out: the discourse of lesbian and gay identity as wrong vs. the discourse of lesbian and gay identity as acceptable. Analysis of participants' talk about their familial identities revealed a range of avenues for resisting the negative discourses regarding lesbian and gay identities. The findings highlight discursive power in participants' talk about their familial identities and how participants organize the conflicting messages they receive in their culture and in relationships regarding family identities.

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Coming Out with Our Children: Turning Points Facilitating Lesbian Parent Discourse with Their Children About Family Identity

Cited by 33 publications

References 11 publications

Understanding Communication Between Lesbian Parents and Their Children Regarding Outsider Discourse About Family Identity

Understanding Communication Between Lesbian Parents and Their Children Regarding Outsider Discourse About Family Identity

Marriage (In)equality: The Perspectives of Adolescents and Emerging Adults With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Parents

Discursive Struggles Animating Individuals’ Talk About Their Parents’ Coming Out as Lesbian or Gay

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