1932
0

Annual Review of Sociology

Volume 39, 2013

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

Abstract

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.

Keyword(s): lesbian and gay parenting, LGBT families, same-sex couples, sexual orientation, transgender
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145643
2013-07-30
2025-10-05
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/soc/39/1/annurev-soc-071312-145643.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145643&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Acosta KL. 2008. Lesbianas in the borderlands: shifting identities and imagined communities. Gend. Soc. 22:639–59 [Google Scholar]
  2. Agigian A. 2004. Baby Steps: How Lesbian Alternative Insemination Is Changing the World Middletown, CT: Wesleyan Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  3. Albelda R, Badgett MVL, Schneebaum A, Gates GJ. 2009. Poverty in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community Rep., Williams Inst. Los Angeles: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Albelda-Badgett-Schneebaum-Gates-LGB-Poverty-Report-March-2009.pdf [Google Scholar]
  4. Allen DW, Pakaluk C, Price J. 2013. Nontraditional families and childhood progress through school: a comment on Rosenfeld. Demography 50:955–61 [Google Scholar]
  5. American Psychological Associtation 2005. Lesbian and Gay Parenting Washington, DC: Am. Psych. Assoc http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting-full.pdf [Google Scholar]
  6. American Sociological Association 2013. Brief of amicus curiae submitted in Hollingsworth et al. v. Perry et al. and U.S. v. Windsor, Nos. 12-144 12–307
  7. Andersson G, Noack T, Seierstad A, Weedon-Fekjær H. 2006. The demographics of same-sex marriages in Norway and Sweden. Demography 43:79–98 [Google Scholar]
  8. Badgett MVL. 2010. When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
  9. Bennett M, Battle J. 2001. “We can see them but we can't hear them”: LGBT members of African American families. See Bernstein & Reimann 2001 53–67
  10. Bergman K, Rubio RJ, Green R-J, Padrón E. 2010. Gay men who become fathers via surrogacy: the transition to parenthood. J. GLBT Fam. Stud. 6:111–41 [Google Scholar]
  11. Berkowitz D. 2007. A sociohistorical analysis of gay men's procreative consciousness. J. GLBT Fam. Stud. 3:157–90 [Google Scholar]
  12. Berkowitz D, Marsiglio W. 2007. Gay men: negotiating procreative, father, and family identities. J. Marriage Fam. 69:366–81 [Google Scholar]
  13. Bernstein M, Reimann R. 2001. Queer Families, Queer Politics: Challenging Culture and the State New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  14. Biblarz TJ, Savci E. 2010. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families. J. Marriage Fam. 72:480–97 [Google Scholar]
  15. Biblarz TJ, Stacey J. 2010. How does the gender of parents matter?. J. Marriage Fam. 72:3–22 [Google Scholar]
  16. Bos HMW, van Balen F. 2008. Children in planned lesbian families: stigmatisation, psychological adjustment and protective factors. Cult. Health Sex. 10:221–36 [Google Scholar]
  17. Dunne GA. 2000. Opting into motherhood: lesbians blurring the boundaries and transforming the meaning of parenthood and kinship. Gend. Soc. 14:11–35 [Google Scholar]
  18. Durso L, Gates GJ. 2013. Best practices: collecting and analyzing data on sexual minorities. International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality 5 AK Baumle New York: Springer. In press [Google Scholar]
  19. Esposito D, Biafora FA. 2007. Toward a sociology of adoption: historical deconstruction. Handbook of Adoption: Implications for Researchers, Practitioners, and Families RA Javier, AL Baden, FA Biafora, A Camacho-Gingerich 17–31 Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage [Google Scholar]
  20. Fedewa AL, Clark TP. 2009. Parent practices and home-school partnerships: a differential effect for children with same-sex coupled parents?. J. GLBT Fam. Stud. 5:312–39 [Google Scholar]
  21. Folgerø T. 2008. Queer nuclear families? Reproducing and transgressing heteronormativity. J. Homosex. 54:124–149 [Google Scholar]
  22. Foucault M. 1991. Governmentality. The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality: With Two Lectures by and an Interview with Michel Foucault G Burchell, C Gordon, P Miller 87–104 Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
  23. Gartrell N, Bos HMW, Goldberg N. 2011. Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and sexual risk exposure. Arch. Sex. Behav. 40:1199–209 [Google Scholar]
  24. Gates GJ. 2011a. Counting couples, counting families: recommendations for improving measurement of intimate partner relationships Presented at Counting Couples, Counting Families Res. Conf., July 19–20, Bowling Green, OH. http://ncfmr.bgsu.edu/pdf/Counting%20Couples/Conference%20Papers/file98567.pdf [Google Scholar]
  25. Gates GJ. 2011b. Family formation and raising children among same-sex couples. Natl. Counc. Fam. Relat. FF51:F2–F4 [Google Scholar]
  26. Gates GJ. 2012a. Letter to the editor and advisory editors of Social Science Research. Soc. Sci. Res. 41:1350–51 [Google Scholar]
  27. Gates GJ. 2012b. Same-sex couples in Census 2010: race and ethnicity Rep., Williams Inst. Los Angeles: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-CouplesRaceEthnicity-April-2012.pdf [Google Scholar]
  28. Gates GJ. 2013. LGBT parenting in the United States Rep., Williams Inst. Los Angeles: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/LGBT-Parenting.pdf [Google Scholar]
  29. Gates GJ, Badgett MVL, Macomber JE, Chambers K. 2007. Adoption and foster care by gay and lesbian parents in the United States Rep., Williams Inst. Urban Inst. Los Angeles/Washington, DC: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-Badgett-Macomber-Chambers-Final-Adoption-Report-Mar-2007.pdf [Google Scholar]
  30. Gilreath S. 2011. The End of Straight Supremacy: Realizing Gay Liberation New York: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  31. Goldberg AE. 2012. Gay Dads: Transitions to Adoptive Fatherhood New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
  32. Goldberg AE, Allen KR. 2013. LGBT-Parent Families: Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice New York: Springer [Google Scholar]
  33. Golombok S. 2000. Parenting: What Really Counts? London: Routledge [Google Scholar]
  34. Hequembourg AL. 2004. Unscripted motherhood: lesbian mothers negotiating incompletely institutionalized family relationships. J. Soc. Pers. Relat. 21:739–62 [Google Scholar]
  35. Herrera F. 2009. Tradition and transgression: lesbian motherhood in Chile. Sex. Res. Soc. Policy 6:35–51 [Google Scholar]
  36. Hines S. 2006. Intimate transitions: transgender practices of partnering and parenting. Sociology 40:353–71 [Google Scholar]
  37. Hochschild AR. 1979. Emotion work, feeling rules, and social structure. Am. J. Sociol. 85:551–75 [Google Scholar]
  38. Institute of Medicine 2011. The health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people: building a foundation for better understanding Consens. Rep., March 31, Inst. Med. Natl. Acad., Washington, DC. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/The-Health-of-Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-and-Transgender-People.aspx [Google Scholar]
  39. Jepsen LK, Jepsen CA. 2002. An empirical analysis of the matching patterns of same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Demography 39:435–53 [Google Scholar]
  40. Konnoth CJ, Gates GJ. 2011. Same-sex couples and immigration in the United States Rep., Williams Inst. Los Angeles: http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Gates-Konnoth-Binational-Report-Nov-2011.pdf [Google Scholar]
  41. Kurdek LA. 2004. Are gay and lesbian cohabiting couples really different from heterosexual married couples?. J. Marriage Fam. 66:880–900 [Google Scholar]
  42. Kurdek LA. 2006. Differences between partners from heterosexual, gay, and lesbian cohabiting couples. J. Marriage Fam. 68:509–28 [Google Scholar]
  43. Laumann EO, Gagnon JH, Michael RT, Michaels S. 1994. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
  44. Leddy A, Gartrell N, Bos H. 2012. Growing up in a lesbian family: the life experiences of the adult daughters and sons of lesbian mothers. J. GLBT Fam. Stud. 8:243–57 [Google Scholar]
  45. Lehr V. 1999. Queer Family Values Philadelphia, PA: Temple Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  46. Lewin E. 2009. Gay Fatherhood: Narratives of Family and Citizenship in America Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
  47. Lick D, Tornello S, Riskind R, Schmidt K, Patterson CJ. 2012. Social climate for sexual minorities predicts well-being among heterosexual offspring of lesbian and gay parents. Sex. Res. Soc. Policy 9:99–112 [Google Scholar]
  48. Lubbe C. 2013. LGBT parents and their children: non-Western research and perspectives. See Goldberg & Allen 2013 209–24
  49. Mallon GP. 2004. Gay Men Choosing Parenthood New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  50. Mamo L. 2007. Queering Reproduction: Achieving Pregnancy in the Age of Technoscience Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  51. Marks L. 2012. Same-sex parenting and children's outcomes: a closer examination of the American Psychological Association's brief on lesbian and gay parenting. Soc. Sci. Res. 41:735–51 [Google Scholar]
  52. Mezey NJ. 2008. New Choices, New Families: How Lesbians Decide About Motherhood Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  53. Mezey SG. 2008. Gay Families and the Courts: The Quest for Equal Rights Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield [Google Scholar]
  54. Moore MR. 2008. Gendered power relations among women: a study of household decision making in Black, lesbian stepfamilies. Am. Sociol. Rev. 73:335–56 [Google Scholar]
  55. Moore MR. 2011. Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships, and Motherhood Among Black Women Los Angeles: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
  56. Moore MR, Brainer A. 2013. LGBT-parent families: innovations in research and implications for practice. See Goldberg & Allen 2013 133–48
  57. Oswald RF. 2002. Resilience within the family networks of lesbians and gay men: intentionality and redefinition. J. Marriage Fam. 64:374–83 [Google Scholar]
  58. Oswald RF, Goldberg A, Kuvalanka K, Clausell E. 2008. Structural and moral commitment among same-sex couples: relationship duration, religiosity, and parental status. J. Fam. Psychol. 22:411–19 [Google Scholar]
  59. Oswald RF, Kuvalanka KA. 2008. Same-sex couples' legal complexities. J. Fam. Issues 29:1051–66 [Google Scholar]
  60. Oswald RF, Kuvalanka KA, Blume LB, Berkowitz D. 2009. Queering “the family.”. Handbook of Feminist Family Studies SA Lloyd, AL Few, KR Allen 43–55 Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage [Google Scholar]
  61. Peplau LA, Fingerhut AW. 2007. The close relationships of lesbians and gay men. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 58:405–24 [Google Scholar]
  62. Pfeffer CA. 2010. “Women's work”? Women partners of transgender men doing housework and emotion work. J. Marriage Fam. 72:165–83 [Google Scholar]
  63. Pfeffer CA. 2012. Normative resistance and inventive pragmatism negotiating structure and agency in transgender families. Gend. Soc. 26:574–602 [Google Scholar]
  64. Polášková E. 2007. The Czech lesbian family study: investigating family practices. Beyond the Pink Curtain: Everyday Life of LGBT People in Eastern Europe R Kuhar, J Takács 201–15 Ljubljana, Slov.: Peace Inst. [Google Scholar]
  65. Polikoff N. 2008. Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law Boston, MA: Beacon [Google Scholar]
  66. Potgieter C. 2003. Black South African lesbians: discourses on motherhood and women's roles. J. Lesbian Stud. 7:135–51 [Google Scholar]
  67. Potter D. 2012. Same-sex parent families and children's academic achievement. J. Marriage Fam. 74:556–71 [Google Scholar]
  68. Powell B, Bolzendahl C, Geist C, Carr Steelman L. 2010. Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family Ithaca, NY: CUP Serv. [Google Scholar]
  69. Reczek C, Elliott S, Umberson D. 2009. Commitment without marriage: union formation among long-term same-sex couples. J. Fam. Issues 30:738–56 [Google Scholar]
  70. Regnerus M. 2012a. How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study. Soc. Sci. Res. 41:752–70 [Google Scholar]
  71. Regnerus M. 2012b. Parental same-sex relationships, family instability, and subsequent life outcomes for adult children: answering critics of the New Family Structures Study with additional analyses. Soc. Sci. Res. 41:1367–77 [Google Scholar]
  72. Robitaille C, Saint-Jacques M. 2009. Social stigma and the situation of young people in lesbian and gay families. J. Homosex. 56:421–42 [Google Scholar]
  73. Rosenfeld MJ. 2010. Nontraditional families and childhood progress through school. Demography 47:755–75 [Google Scholar]
  74. Rosenfeld MJ. 2012. Couple longevity and formal unions in the era of same-sex marriage in the U.S. Presented at Annu. Meet. Am. Sociol. Assoc. , 107th. Denver: [Google Scholar]
  75. Rosenfeld MJ. 2013. Reply to Allen et al. Demography 50:963–69 [Google Scholar]
  76. Rosenfeld MJ, Kim B. 2005. The independence of young adults and the rise of interracial and same-sex unions. Am. Sociol. Rev. 70:541–62 [Google Scholar]
  77. Sacchetti M. 2012. US will consider same-sex partnerships in deportations. Boston Globe Sept. 28. http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/09/28/obama-administration-says-will-consider-same-sex-partnerships-deportation-proceedings/shZQkY5Slx6xZy8847t0FK/story.html [Google Scholar]
  78. Sanger T. 2010. Trans People's Partnerships: Towards an Ethics of Intimacy Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan [Google Scholar]
  79. Schilt K, Westbrook L. 2009. Doing gender, doing heteronormativity: “gender normals,” transgender people, and the social maintenance of heterosexuality. Gend. Soc. 23:440–64 [Google Scholar]
  80. Seidman S. 2002. Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life New York: Routledge [Google Scholar]
  81. Shapiro J. 2013. The law governing LGBT-parent families. See Goldberg & Allen 2013 291–304
  82. Sheff E. 2010. Strategies in polyamorous parenting. Understanding Non-Monogamies M Barker, D Langdridge 169–81 London: Routledge [Google Scholar]
  83. Shulman JL, Gotta G, Green R-J. 2012. Will marriage matter? Effects of marriage anticipated by same-sex couples. J. Fam. Issues 33:158–81 [Google Scholar]
  84. Stacey J. 2006. Gay parenthood and the decline of paternity as we knew it. Sexualities 9:27–55 [Google Scholar]
  85. Stacey J. 2011. Unhitched: Love, Marriage, and Family Values from West Hollywood to Western China New York: NYU Press [Google Scholar]
  86. Stacey J, Biblarz TJ. 2001. (How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter?. Am. Sociol. Rev. 66:159–83 [Google Scholar]
  87. Stein A. 2005. Make room for daddy: anxious masculinity and emergent homophobias in neopatriarchal politics. Gend. Soc. 19:601–20 [Google Scholar]
  88. Steinbugler A. 2012. Beyond Loving: Intimate Racework in Lesbian, Gay, and Straight Interracial Relationships Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  89. Sullivan M. 2004. The Family of Woman: Lesbian Mothers, Their Children, and the Undoing of Gender Los Angeles: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
  90. Sutfin E, Fulcher M, Bowles R, Patterson CJ. 2008. How lesbian and heterosexual parents convey attitudes about gender to their children: the role of gendered environments. Sex Roles 58:501–13 [Google Scholar]
  91. Telingator CJ, Patterson CJ. 2008. Children and adolescents of lesbian and gay parents. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 47:1364–68 [Google Scholar]
  92. Vaccaro A. 2010. Toward inclusivity in family narratives: counter-stories from queer multi-parent families. J. GLBT Fam. Stud. 6:425–46 [Google Scholar]
  93. Wainright JL, Patterson CJ. 2006. Delinquency, victimization, and substance use among adolescents with female same-sex parents. J. Fam. Psychol. 20:526–30 [Google Scholar]
  94. Wainright JL, Patterson CJ. 2008. Peer relations among adolescents with female same-sex parents. Dev. Psychol. 44:117–26 [Google Scholar]
  95. Wainright JL, Russell ST, Patterson CJ. 2004. Psychosocial adjustment, school outcomes, and romantic relationships of adolescents with same-sex parents. Child Dev. 75:1886–98 [Google Scholar]
  96. Ward J. 2010. Gender labor: transmen, femmes, and collective work of transgression. Sexualities 13:236–54 [Google Scholar]
  97. Warner M. 1999. Normal and normaller: beyond gay marriage. GLQ: J. Lesbian Gay Stud. 5:119–71 [Google Scholar]
  98. West C, Zimmerman DH. 1987. Doing gender. Gend. Soc. 1:125–51 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145643
Loading

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error