Families of non-heterosexual people with children - among old answers and new questions

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present and analyse the available data concerning the situation of children of nonheterosexual people and to discuss selected areas of LGB parenting. The article enables an identifi cation of issues related to the welfare and specifi city of functioning of children brought up by gays, lesbians and bisexual people, which over almost forty years of research have fi nally been empirically verifi ed. At the same time, it points to the need to caution against generalizing particular conclusions from the conducted research, especially those concerning the level of discrimination and peer violence against non-heterosexual people and their children, on families living in Poland and other countries characterised by a low level of acceptance of LGB parenting. The paper also identifi es areas that should be of interest to researchers, including the perspective of social parents and their relations with children, experiences of children raised by non-heterosexual men and bisexual parents, as well as experiences of children brought up in family systems alternative to the traditional model (a pair of parents with children). The data collected so far allow us to speak about safe context of development of children raised in family systems created by non-heterosexual parents, and, at the same time, they point to a space for educational programs and research projects that will enable further understanding of experiences of non-heterosexual parents and their children.