Saturday, June 26, 2010

Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents Series:

Section 2: Definition of Terms

Sexual Orientation: Fletcher and Russel (2001), define sexual orientation as:
A person’s self concept as based on sexual and emotional attractions to other persons who are of the same sex (a homosexual orientation), the other sex (a heterosexual orientation), or both same and other sex (a bisexual orientation (p. 36).

Sexual Identity: “Personally and outwardly identifying oneself as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual…. A consistent, enduring sense of the meanings that the sexual orientation and sexual behavior have for a person” (Fletcher & Russell, 2001, p. 36).

Heterosexism: Fletcher and Russell (2001), describe heterosexism as, “The presumption that every one is (or should be) heterosexual, resulting in the ignorance of or devaluing of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender] behavior, orientations, identities, or relationships, and the labeling of these as deviant” (p. 36). Herek (as cited in Malley and Tasker, 1999) defines heterosexism as “a worldview, a value system that prizes heterosexuality, assumes it is the only manifestation of love and sexuality and devalues homosexuality and all that is not heterosexual” (p. 4). 

For a complete list of references see  LGBT Affirmative Therapy Page

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Erin Falvey @ Narrative San Diego: Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents Series:

Erin Falvey @ Narrative San Diego: Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents Series:: "Section 1: Introduction The purpose of this series is to provide an overview of the body of research related to gay and lesbian parents and..."

Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents Series:

Section 1: Introduction 
The purpose of this series is to provide an overview of the body of research related to gay and lesbian parents and their children. This overview includes the definition of terms relevant to the topic, an introduction to demographic considerations and study of same-sex parenting, the controversy surrounding same sex parenting and child development including a review of the literature on the similarities to and differences of the experiences of gay and lesbian parents and their children when compared to heterosexual parents and their children, and an introduction to the politics of “difference” vs. “no difference.” Finally, Erin discusses her conclusions based upon this review and provides suggestions for future research.