Negotiating Religiosity and Sexual Identity Among Hispanic Lesbian Mothers

Abstract

Hispanic lesbian mothers face bicultural tensions that stigmatize their roles as mothers. Religion could produce heightened conflict given their potential incompatibility with the role of a "good mother." In particular, there is a potential for conflict between the definition of a "good mother" set forth in Catholicism and the sexual orientation of Hispanic lesbians. I conducted semistructured in-depth interviews to examine how Hispanic lesbian mothers negotiate their Catholic religious identity with aspects of their sexual identity. More specifically, I examined the strategies that Hispanic lesbian mothers use to reconcile or navigate perceived conflict between their roles as a Catholic and as a lesbian. The research questions to be answered were: How do Hispanic lesbian mothers negotiate a Catholic religious and a sexual identity? How do Hispanic lesbian mothers create and maintain a religious narrative? How do Hispanic lesbian mothers redefine religion and spirituality?

Familismo, Lesbophobia, and Religious Beliefs in the Life Course Narratives of Chilean Lesbian Mothers

“…In our sample, participants' parents' heteronormative expectations and Christian beliefs and values underlay parental pressures. The association of heteronormativity with parental Christian religiosity in the socialisation of Latina lesbians also had been previously described by research conducted in the United States (Espín, 1987;Acosta, 2008Acosta, , 2010Asencio, 2009;Tuthill, 2016) and Chile (Herrera, 2007;Jara and Araujo, 2011).…”

“…Interestingly, the impact of the lesbian mother's own religious beliefs and values (or those held by her family of origin) on their own internalised lesbophobia appeared noticeably more pronounced among lesbian mothers from regions outside Santiago. This is a particular aspect of LM identity life course had not been described in previous studies with LM living in Latino countries, although Tuthill (2016) has identified a similar patterning among Catholic Hispanic LM living in the United States.…”

“…Despite the insightful understanding of the family life of LM living in Latino countries previous studies have shown, the role of Christian religious beliefs and values on the family experiences of LM have received less attention. A study conducted with Catholic Hispanic LM in the United States found that religion produced an identity conflict given its potential incompatibility with the role of a "good mother" (Tuthill, 2016). Thus, it seems that Christian religious beliefs and values might have an important impact on the family life of LM within a Latino cultural context, even for the LM in Tuthill's study who were all Latina women living in the United States.…”

Relationship of Religiosity and Spirituality to Hazardous Drinking, Drug Use, and Depression Among Sexual Minority Women

“…Although there is very little research on religiosity/spirituality among Latina SMW, qualitative studies have stressed the role of religious messages (e.g., expectations related to heterosexuality, gender conformity, and motherhood) as a source of stress and conflict among Latina lesbians (Reyes, 1998; Tuthill, 2016). Latina SMW who wish to retain connection to their family/community but who find the religious teachings of their church to be unsupportive of their sexual identity may define themselves as more spiritual than religious (Tuthill, 2016).…”

“…Latina SMW who wish to retain connection to their family/community but who find the religious teachings of their church to be unsupportive of their sexual identity may define themselves as more spiritual than religious (Tuthill, 2016). One well-designed general population study found that spirituality was not protective for past year illicit drug use, and was positively associated with lifetime use of cocaine and injection drug use (Allen & Lo, 2010).…”