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LGBT Families at the Start of the Twenty-First Century

Abstract / Excerpt

Since the start of the twenty-first century, the literature on same-sex couple relationships and families headed by single parents who identify as lesbian or gay has grown exponentially, and research published in the past 10 to 15 years tackles many new questions about sexual minority families. This review concentrates on four topics that have dominated the sociological arena: who counts as family and how/whether changing definitions of family incorporate households formed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people; the biological, social, and legal obstacles that influence family formation for this population; the outcomes for youth raised with lesbian or gay parents; and family dynamics, relationship quality, and relationship dissolution in same-sex couple and transgender partner households. We conclude with future directions for the sociological study of LGBT sexuality and families.

About the Author

Mignon R. Moore

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LGBT Families at the Start of the Twenty-First Century

Mignon R. Moore

Annual Review of Sociology

Annual Reviews

Same-Sex Couples, Lesbian and Gay Parenting, Sexual Orientation, LGBT Families, Transgender

Article

17 pages

Link for BC/CU ID Holders

Columbia University Authentication

www-jstor-org.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu

Link for Non-BC/CU ID Holders

LGBT Sexuality and Families at the Start of the Twenty-First Century

hal.archives-ouvertes.fr

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Citation “Published in 2013, before the 2015 Obergefell same-sex marriage decision, Mignon Moore’s review article offers both an extensive overview of literature on LGBT families, and a robust critique of their potential limitations and oversights. I would recommend this article for a couple different reasons: First, it provides an accessible and comprehensive history of research conducted on LGBT families within the US context and hence can serve as an introduction into research, questions and concerns in the field. Secondly, and in my opinion more importantly, Moore continually offers incisive critiques of how this literature might not account for all configurations of queer families and calls for an expansion and rethinking of existing categories of analysis. Finally, this article serves almost like a snapshot in a pre-Obergefell time - of how LGBT families were legally and socially defined and thought of in early 2010s, of various obstacles and barriers to resources they experienced, of how specific identities and positionalities (in terms of gender, race, sexual orientation, class, geographic location) impacted their journeys of becoming and maintaining their queer families. I can see this article serving as a starting point for further research in the field and spurring a wide range of conversations in class in terms of methodology (how to conduct ethical research on underserved and/or disadvantaged communities, how to define terminology clearly, how to acknowledge limitations of existing research), as well as in terms of how much or little things have changed since the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015. I would, for example, love to have students do a ‘follow-up’ research on any of the issues raised by Mignon Moore to see whether same-sex marriage ameliorated these issues as scholars in 2000’s & 2010’s anticipated, or whether these obstacles reappeared under new and different guises." - Duygu Ula, English & First Year Foundation