Category: Gay

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The love and personal relationship with their partners decreased for most parents, having a child. In addition, the rate of social participation of gay fathers also decreased; they appeared to socialize more with heterosexual parents and reported losing some gay relationships since they became parents (Bergman et al., 2010). Gay fathers reported higher life satisfaction but gave less important to their career since becoming a parent (Panozzo, 2015).

Research on fathering has shown that heterosexual fathers influence their children in similar ways to mothers (Lamb, 2010). In addition, the broader social environment can have a marked impact on the psychological well-being of children, and children with gay fathers can be more vulnerable and exposed to discrimination than children with lesbian mothers because gay father families possess the additional non-traditional characteristics of being headed by men (Golombok & Tasker, 2010). Nevertheless, due to the presence of two male parents and the absence of a female parent from the household, it has been reported that the gender development of children with gay fathers may vary from those of the children with lesbian mothers or heterosexual parents.

Although recent academic discourse in Western Europe, specifically the U.K., maintains that scholars should move beyond asking whether gay parenting is possible to a more critical analysis of queer parenting (Clarke, 2006; Hicks, 2006a), we assert that this is not the case in ‘‘the more religious and politically polarized climate’’ of the United States (Clarke & Kitzinger, 2005).

Research has suggested that, given the cultural trend away from the nuclear family, gayest men see their potential family life in the ‘ normal ‘ form of two parents in a committed relationship managing their child’s daily life (Rubun & Faith-Oswald, 2009). Nevertheless, this family type is not the experience of many gay fathers, particularly those who are parents of donors (Dempsey, 2006; Van Reyk, 2007) or those who are parenting with a female or male ex-partner (Bozett, 1989). These men are often living within non-traditional families, in some cases negotiating everyday life with two or more co-parents or entering into fatherhood as a non-resident parent (Power, Perlesz, Brown et al., 2010). For some of these fathers, their parenting role has been constructed as an arrangement whereby they are available for the child psychologically and physically but do not have any day-to-day caring or financial responsibilities (Donovan, 2000; Dunne, 1999; Rane & McBride, 2000).

Previous studies shown that same-gender parenting have only marginally included gay parented families. Gay parent is important while there appears to be few overall differences between different-gender and same-gender couples, parental gender or even the interaction between parental gender and sexual orientation may influence parenting practices and family dynamics (Bibarz and Stacey, 2010). Gay couples may share household and parenting duties more equally than heterosexual couples. Furthermore, gay couples may bring up less gender traditional children than heterosexual couples, but be more traditional in their gender socialization of their children (Bibarz and Stacey, 2010).

Some studies have raised questions about the potential role of social support in helping children deal with the issues or situations presented by having a parent who is gay or lesbian. Paul (1986) found that offspring who were told of parental gay, either in childhood or in late adolescence found the reports to be easier to cope with than those who originally learned of it during early to middle adolescence. Moreover, Huggins (1989) also reported that those who understood in infancy about maternal lesbianism had higher self-esteem than those who had not been aware of it until they became teenagers. Children might find it much easier to address issues raised by having parents who are gay if they understand about parental sexual orientation during childhood rather than teenage years. Furthermore, existing research does not provide a basis for claiming that the best interests of children are protected by family conflict or confidentiality about a gay or lesbian parent’s sexuality, or by the requirement that a lesbian or gay parent maintain a household separate from that of a same-sex partner.

In addition, target effects on the social perception of same-sex couples are correlated with age. Gay men as parents seem to contradict expectations of sex and parenthood, according to Stacey (2006). Gay men are more harshly judged than lesbians because they are thought to contradict traditional gender roles and masculinity’s hegemonic paradigm (Connell, 2005; Wells, 2011). In sharp contrast to these perceptions, a recent meta-analysis exploring the impact of gay fatherhood on child psychological adjustment has shown that, compared to children of heterosexual parents, children of gay fathers may fare better in some psychological domains, less internalizing and outsourcing problems (Miller et al., 2017). Researchers shown that these differences can be attributed to better socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. higher incomes, higher education), as well as to the resilience shown by gay fathers in the face of a discriminatory and oppressive social climate.

Gay fathers may give their children the advantage of serving as a model of androgyny rather than promoting traditional male role development among sons. The benefits offered to children in this regard are discussed in relation to the development of children’s long-term life span (Bigner, 2000). Gay men who are fathers have a unique social-psychological environment that is more complex than other homosexual or heterosexual men. Their transition problems relate to issues of identification, self-acceptance, family acceptance, and acceptance by other homosexuals, as well as concerns related to aspects of parenting and custody (Bigner, & Bozett, 2000).

Gay fathers tended to be stricter, more responsive to the needs of children, and more consistent in providing children with reasons for appropriate behavior than nongay fathers. For these similarities and differences in parenting styles, several explanations are explored (Bigner & Jacobsen, 2000). However, it felt less competent than heterosexual fathers in their place of child-rearing. Especially for gay fathers, rejection experiences and the feeling they have to defend their situation were significantly related to the relationship between father and child, parental stress, and the well-being of children (Bos, 2010).

Gay Fathers in Context of the Society

An enigma in our society is the man who is both a homosexual and a father. By nature, the word homosexual dad is contradictory. But as gay has the connotation of homosexuality while father implies heterosexuality, this is more a matter of semantics (Bigner & Bozett,1989). Gay Dads endeavor to set before the reader the new American family, grounded on love and decision as opposed to the marriage of a man and lady and their regular posterity (Ten eyk,2003). Concern that children are negatively affected by having gay parents has been imminent recently (Harris, 2013).

Gay fathers also experience criticism from the society because of its belief that a child cannot be raised properly without a mother. They have to contend with the still-prevalent belief that children need a mother to thrive and stereotypes associated with gay men as frivolous, unstable, and unfit parents, (Ellen C. Perrin, Sean M. Hurley, Kathryn Mattern, Lila Flavin and Ellen E. Pinderhughes, 2019). Although gay fathers did not differ from heterosexual fathers in the strength and quality of their relationships, feelings of rejection and having to justify themselves as parents affected fathers’ feelings of competence as parents (Perrin, et al. 2019). Because of the standards that the world require, gay fathers are expected to experience stigma from the society.

According to Reuters (2019), almost two-thirds of gay fathers’ experience humiliation based on their status as homosexual dads, and half of them avoid situations out of fear of mistreatment or discrimination, the current study found. Not surprisingly, gay fathers were more likely to report humiliation affecting their lives in states with fewer legal protections. They also reported more active discrimination in states with fewer legal protections, particularly from family members and in religious settings.

However, many gay men in America still automatically assume that fatherhood is not an option. In fact, many men view being gay as equivalent to being childless. An openly gay man and father, Don, elaborates, ‘‘the coming-out process for me was not so much about people knowing I was gay as it was more about losing the idea of having children’’ (Mallon, 2004). Yet, some recent studies have highlighted that many gay-identified men who live in America would like to raise a child and those who said they wanted children were younger than those who did not (Bryant & Demian, 1994; Sbordone, 1993).

In spite of the fact that the terms ‘gay’ and ‘father’ are frequently thought to be totally unrelated, actually there are many gay men in the United States who are also a guardian. As with any invisible minority, it is hard to precisely evaluate the quantity of gay guardians that exist. In spite of recognized troubles, various researchers and associations have created estimations. In an on-going report, theorize that there are somewhere in the range of one and 9,000,000 gay guardians in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union (2000) recommends that the number is a lot higher, given their report that 6 to 14 million youngsters in the United States have a parent who is gay or lesbian (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001).

The on-going sociology investigate concentrating on gay child rearing has moved from a craving to demonstrate that lesbians and gay men can be great guardians and that the Children brought up in these families create in a sound way, to inventive grant that lights up the manners by which gay guardians both deliberately and unwittingly challenge heteronormative child rearing beliefs and structures. For instance, through their investigation of gay dads who came to parenthood in the wake of setting up a gay personality and present the idea of degendered child rearing and reason that gay dads have a lot to instruct non-gay dads about child rearing (Silverstein and Auerbach, 2001).

This review of related literature hereby indicates the need to have further more knowledge and understanding on the life if gay father herein the Philippines considering that the studies that have been presented were operated from other counties. Moreover, the summary of this related studies presented can help readers to have a better understanding and deep ideas about the current phenomenon in focus.

Clinicians hold a responsibility to their clients to remain judgement free. This is even more important when counseling gay or lesbian clients. “Indication of a good match for GLB clients is a counselor who can provide a safe and nonjudgmental place for GLB clients to work through their feelings; openness and complete confidentiality on the part of the counselor; and the counselor’s awareness of community services and resources. (Schwarzbaum & Taylor pg 347) It is also important for clinicians to ensure they have minimized the heterosexual bias. “Counselors working with sexual or gender-minority clients must be prepared to challenge some of their own preconceived notions about sex, gender and relationships and understand the client from their unique perspective.” (Mahon 2011 pg 26)

Differences in Counseling Gay/ Lesbian and Heterosexual Clients

Counseling gay and lesbian clients differs from heterosexual clients. One way this differs is gay and lesbian clients may feel fear or shame for their sexuality, while heterosexual clients do not. The clinician could also need to work with the gay/lesbian client on “coming out”. “Counselors have the ability to help clients to recognize coming out stressors, adequately prepare, and sufficiently process their coming out experiences.” (Ali web 2018) The clinician will also need to find resources specific to gay/ lesbian clients.

Specific Needs of Gay/ Lesbian Clients

Gay and lesbian clients will have some specific needs that differ from heterosexual clients. The coming-out process is one need that differs from heterosexual clients. During this time the clinician can help to assess with the client if they should come-out to those around them and provide support for any backlash they receive. Another specific need that gay and lesbian clients have is specific community resources. “Counselors can help normalize GLBT clients who are coming out by providing additional resources like clubs, Web sites, and books, so they can become more accepting of themselves.” (Adkins & Gardner web 2010) When counseling gay and lesbian clients it is important to keep any personal bias in check and if this is not possible for the clinician they should refer the client to another counselor.

References

1. Adkins, Joshua and Gardner, Rebecca. “Needs Assessment for Counseling GLBT Clients.” 2010. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/VISTAS/vistas12/Article_2.pdf
2. Ali, Shianna. “Counseling Considerations for the Coming-Out Process.” 11 October 2018. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/news/aca-blogs/aca-member-blogs/aca-member-blogs/2018/10/11/counseling-considerations-for-the-coming-out-process
3. Mahon, Megan. (2011) “Come and Be Who You Are.” Counseling Today. May 2011. Retrieved https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/Counseling%20Today/May2011CTOnline.pdf
4. Schwarzbaum, S. E., & Jones Thomas, A. (2008). Dimesions of multicultural counseling a life story approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Homosexuality is a term that is commonly used to describe people aligned to a given sexual orientation or is showing interest and getting attracted to members of the individual’s gender. Therefore, men getting sexually attracted to fellow men and women getting sexually attracted to fellow women. The word gay is usually applied as the other word for homosexuals, while lesbianism is the term used to refer to female homosexuality. For diverse cultures during changing times, homosexual activities have been differently tolerated and variously accepted of, endured, banned, and punished. The term homosexuality was infamous in the Rome and Greece cultures, as the relations between the adolescent and adult males in specific have to turn out to be a key focus of Western conformists in the recent past years. Muslim cultures, as well as Judeo Christian, have primarily alleged that homosexual relationships as sinful and is a characteristic of an immoral society. Nevertheless, many Christian and Jewish leaders, however, have moved out to greater lengths to demonstrate that it is the actions of the community and never about the personalities or even their orientation or inclination prescribed by their diverse faiths and religions. This topic has endangered to create complete splits in some other denominations (Peter, 2005).

A very popular similarity between gays and lesbianism is their way of thinking and open-mindedness. Research has shown that both lesbians and gays respect other forms of sexual orientation more than different sexualities. This is probably because most societies worldwide undermine and disapprove of same-sex marriages and consider them immoral.

Additionally, gays and lesbian couples who are married or get engaged apply and appreciate the rare rule of equality, and they do so by sharing household responsibilities and ending them together. Research has shown most of such same-gender relationships assign by balancing and allocation of household tasks equally but specialize as one partner does, for example, the cooking, and the other does the ironing. In this separation pattern, no partner does more of the household labor than the other partner (Lake, 2009). Studies have shown that most lesbian or gay pairs are most likely to apportion by balancing and sharing, while the married heterosexual couples operate by the principle of segregation as the wives do the bulk of domestic labor. More so, additional studies based on evidence put forward that many gay and lesbian couples have a planned and agreed financial corporation and merge or pool partial or full of their earnings, and this grows more prosperous with time. However, data also proposes that gay and lesbian couples in a relationship are more probable to plan their investments together, and this is more common in lesbian relationships. In two recent case studies carried out in Britain, gay and lesbian relationships sampled respondents usually make equivalent contributions to domestic expenses, but else each manages their finances separately regularly in distinct bank accounts(Peter, 2005).

On the other hand, meta-analyses of the study literature indicate that heterosexual women and men respond in different ways to homosexuality. Heterosexual males usually portray higher feelings of sexual preconception, such as adverse attitudes towards homosexual individuals than done by heterosexual women. This difference in preconceived notion results primarily from heterosexual men’s disrespect towards homosexual males, which are more negative consistently than either of their attitudes towards lesbianism and heterosexual females’ attitudes concerning either gay men or lesbians (Ekwenze, 2012). These explanations all imply that heterosexual men and women think differently about homosexuality.

References

1. Ekwenze, S. (2012). The Moral and Legal Frontiers of Homosexuality, Lesbianism and Gayism: A Paradox for the Third Millennium. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2174084
2. Lake, E. (2009). Research with Adolescents Sheds New Light on Early Lesbianism. Science News, 96(3), 45. DOI: 10.2307/3954665
3. Peter, A. (2005). Lesbianism: A study of female homosexuality. Behavior Therapy, 6(5), 745. DOI: 10.1016/s0005-7894(75)80231-0

When we think about gay rights in America, it is evident that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and others (LGBTQ+) have come a long, long way with still difficult roads ahead in order to be treated equally, under law or otherwise, as their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts. It was as if the entire gay community reached a breakthrough when on June 26, 2015, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant and recognize same-sex marriages (Yoshino). That, in and of itself, was a major milestone in gay rights activism, although memories of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 is still as fresh as if it were yesterday. Before these events that provided a revolutionary conviction to this cause, the narrative was worlds apart for the gay community, with one of the darkest periods being the epidemic of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which was known as the gay cancer (Rist) before the discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The disease AIDS has caused the gay community to create a myriad of LGBTQ+ support service organisations. This has resulted in the establishment of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), and Treatment Action Group (TAG), with each being the former’s organizational offspring.

GMHC, the first among the three, was the paramount of AIDS activism. Everything we know today about the disease is a result of the intensive research, advocacy and activism of AIDS activist and playwright Larry Kramer, along with his friends and fellow activists Paul Popham, Rodger Mcfarlane, Nathan Fain, Paul Rapoport, Lawrence D. Mass, Edmund White, and more. The organization that we know today started off as an impulsive decision of friends who were frustrated of watching people they held near and dear, and may have even been romantically linked to perish one by one due to what then looked like a plague. Desperate for answers to why all their loved ones were dying, and how to save themselves and those remaining from what looked like an impending demise, these friends gathered in the living room of Kramer’s New York City apartment, and raised $7000 by passing around a hat among themselves, which gave GMHC a head start (Hill). AIDS, at that time, was a disease without a name, and at a time when the gay community’s fight towards recognition, acknowledgement and acceptance in a heteronormative world that extensively struggled to be inclusive of them was challenging enough anyway, this nameless disease wiped off almost all progress and pushed them back a few more decades. Kramer, and his then living friends worked closely with Dr. Linda Laubenstein of New York University Medical Center, who was testing every gay person she could convince to help research on the cause and ultimate remedy of AIDS (Kramer). After a long strenuous battle with the media who wasn’t recognizing the pandemic, a government that wasn’t ready to fund for AIDS, and also a significant portion of the gay community itself who were just not ready to recede the progress made on what they called the sexual revolution, GMHC persisted and continued to thrive.

Just like it was during its establishment, GMHC is a volunteer run non-profit support organization that continues to spread AIDS awareness, provides therapeutic treatment to patients, people who lost loved ones, and maintains a safe space for dialogue for anyone who faced discrimination because of their HIV status. In its earlier days, GMHC ran a crisis hotline where people who were either infected, lost loved ones, or those who were either evicted or faced discriminated at work places because of HIV/AIDS could share their burden. And today, with the sponsorship from large scale businesses, GMHC organizes its annual AIDS Walk, which is the largest awareness campaign for AIDS in North America (Special Events, GMHC).

Because this disease was only prevalent in gay community, and only men at first, all guesses as to what caused it went straight to the one thing that made gay men different than their heterosexual counterparts — their sexuality. The only feasible answer was to convince gay men into refraining from fornicating, which caused a major stir (Kramer). But soon enough, the pandemic reached a peak, and more and more people succumbed to it, which included women, whether lesbian or otherwise, and even children.

And thus, it was widely understood that tackling this pandemic and the injustices caused by it needed a more intensive and direct approach, and something that was inclusive of all HIV/AIDS patients, and not only exclusive to gay men. Larry Kramer, along with the GMHC board thus went on to set up ACT UP in 1987, which aimed to do just so. The colloquial term for the idiom “act up” is “showing disobedience” or “misbehave”. While the organization does not aim any behavior as such, the demonstrations, advocacy and activism which is aimed against authorities such as the police, government officials, politicians and religious organizations etc. looks exactly like “acting up” against some form of authority (‘About Us’, ACT UP). ACT UP went on to become the most influential AIDS activists organization in the 1980-90’s with its autonomous and chic street protestors readily engaging in every major city in North America (Rist).

Unfortunately, while effective in advocacy and spreading awareness, ACT UP’s vision and aims seemed short-sighted for many that were under the threat of HIV, because the most important thing that was needed by the community to survive was treatment. This led to the creation of TAG, which was essentially the treatment and data committee of ACT UP. After an initial failure to retrieve an effective drug due to a campaign against the FDA that ensued the repercussions of HIV/AIDS patients getting untested medicine which had little to no effect on HIV whatsoever (Gingrich-Philbrook), TAG, in 1992, went on to become a separate volunteer-run organization that worked exclusively with government officials, drug researchers and FDA officials to find and speed up the development of HIV therapies and treatment (‘About Us’). One of the most remarkable work TAG advocates is the awareness they raised about the impact of Tuberculosis (TB) was having on HIV patients. The one thing that the HIV virus does is that it destroys the human immune system, making it susceptible to every kind of disease there is. TAG advocates and activists pressed the government and the pharmaceutical industry to research the long-term effects of the drugs that were to be introduced to HIV/AIDS patients in order to find the best effective antidote, and to lessen the risk of side-effects. In 2007, TAG received a $4.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to foster increased international advocacy on TB/HIV research and treatment.

The Gay Rights Movement – A Historiographical Analysis

Homosexuals have been despised for much of history, but only in the latter half of the 20th century and the 21st century have gay people gained greater visibility and acceptance. In the United States, this could happen because of the Gay rights movement that originated in the 1950s. Some historians address the Gay Rights movement in regards to the mainstream perception of gay people. Others address the movement in regards to how they were viewed in the American political landscape; some even talk specifically about the political landscape and gay people during the specific eras, such as the Cold War or the AIDS Crisis. Some writers would also write about the political organization of this movement, and some specifically talk about how it interacted with other movements as well.

In Benjamin Bishin, Thomas Hayes, Matthew Incantalupo, and Charles Anthony Smith’s journal article, the authors discuss the mainstream response to LGBT issues, more specifically about the potential backlash the community might face. The thesis of this article is that through the examination of online and natural experiments involving LGBT issues, researchers have found that marginalized groups need not fear backlash from the public when promoting their cause. Backlash is when a dominant group reacts adversely to social changes pushed by an oppressed group and is stimulated by any action (legal or political) that causes large-scale change. Through experimentation, they found that there was a lack of backlash, and it was not attributed to changes in attitudes towards gay people. This allows the researchers to conclude that marginalized groups shouldn’t fear backlash, as groups that claim backlash will happen are politically motivated.

The first chapter of Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, also talks about how gay people lived within the mainstream culture during the early 20th century. The author talks about what life was like for homosexuals during the early to mid-1900s before the gay rights movement was formed. She talks about homosexuality during Prohibition, during which people could be gay more openly, as, during Prohibition, the lines between commoner and criminal were much blurrier. She also talks about the medicalization of homosexuality, and homosexuality during World War II. The classification of homosexuality as a disease prevented some homosexuals from serving in the military, but most served anyways as they could lie about it. Hirshman also writes about how men who were discovered to be gay in the army were not entitled to veterans’ benefits after World War II.

Leila Rupp’s article deals with the intersection of gay and straight history. The thesis of this article argues that LGBT history has had an impact on all sorts of history outside of itself. The author writes about how gay love ended up playing a part in defining what heterosexual love is. She also writes about the intersection of homosexuality and other topics, such as race, the history of certain political ideologies, and certain important historical events. She also talks about homosexuality in the contexts of both urban and rural areas.

In Scott Hoffman’s article, the author discusses the social impact the martyrdom of Matthew Shepard had in regard to LGBT acceptance. The thesis of the article is that Matthew Shepard’s death and the culmination of the social and political circumstances of the time led him to become a martyr, which gained lesbians and gays more acceptance. The author writes that in America, martyrdom has a different context than the Christian context assigned to it. He also writes about the series of events after Matthew’s death, including the increased acceptance of lesbians and gays and protective legislation against hate crimes (Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Act). The article also writes about how increased sympathy for gay people with AIDS helped Shepard’s death become a tipping point for widespread LGBT acceptance, how discussions on the internet fueled the belief that he was a martyr, and how the common occurrence of martyrdom in American history contributed to Shepard’s martyrdom.

A.S Cohan’s journal article talks about the mainstream point of view of the Gay Rights movement as well, but it also delves into the political response to the movement, as well as the organization of the movement.. The thesis of this article argues that there are four main obstacles for the gay rights movement: Gay people’s unpopularity, the unwillingness of the Supreme Court to recognize them as a group deserving of rights, the cumbersome nature of the American government, and the fractured nature of the gay rights movement. The article argues that because gay people are a minority, they are subject to the tyranny of the disapproving majority. It also talks about the fractured nature of the gay rights movement, as well as the difficulties the movement faced while trying to secure legal rights.

Shana Kushner Gadrian and Eric van der Vort’s journal article talks about how homosexuality is treated in American political rhetoric. The thesis of this article is that disgust rhetoric is extremely influential and powerful, especially when used in the context of gay rights. The authors write that disgust has been frequently used in rhetoric against the LGBT community. Disgust rhetoric invokes feelings of disgust, connecting things such as lesbians and gays to completely unrelated ideas that evoke a primal feeling of disgust, and it establishes a societal boundary for what is deemed acceptable. However, these attitudes can be changed through certain means, such as representation in the media.

In ‘The Politics of Gay Rights in American Communities: Explaining Antidiscrimination Ordinances and Policies,” the authors explain what factors in an area lead to the creation of anti-discrimination policies for gay people. The thesis of this article is that whether states or cities pass legislation that supports the lesbian and gay community depends on the area’s level of urbanization, diversity, the strength of the lesbian and gay community there, how easy it is for groups to gain power in government, and how liberal or conservative the area is. More urban areas tend to have more protections for gays and lesbians because these areas have a large culture from their own, somewhat insulating them from the larger culture, which allows subcultures to develop and politically organize. Also, people from urban areas tend to be more indifferent or permissive to people who practice behaviors that they themselves don’t practice. Areas where there are more gays, where local government officials are more likely to be gay, or where there are more gay-oriented services (like gay bars) are also more likely to have more protections for homosexuals. If an area’s government is open to changes in interests, political support is available for groups involved in government, and the area has a better-educated population, the area will tend to have more legal protections for gays as well. Also, because the gay cause runs contrary to traditional models of family, gender, sex, and the like, areas that tend to be socially conservative will have fewer protections for gay people.

In ‘Americanism, Un-Americanism, and the Gay Rights Movement, “ the author write about the political response to the Gay Rights Movement during the Cold War era. The thesis of this article is that during the origins of the gay rights movement during the Cold-War era, the movement received lots of criticism for being “Un-American,” or damaging to American society and that this criticism has been a common theme in this ongoing movement. The article documents how the movement would respond to such criticism. The movement would generally accuse those who accused them of being Un-American, stating that to deny LGBT people of rights is contrary to American values. At the end of the article, the author writes about how using this sort of rhetoric results in larger consequences, making relations between disagreeing groups more polarized.

In ‘Support for Confrontational Tactics among AIDS Activists: A Study of Intra-Movement Divisions.’, the authors discuss how the AIDS crisis affected the gay rights movement. The thesis of this article is that political distrust, suffering, more radical ideologies, and differences in the location of members lead to intra-movement divisions. This is demonstrated by the gay rights movement during the AIDS crisis. ACT-UP, a group within the gay rights movement, made disruptive demonstrations pushing the government to take action. However, some people were less willing to take such action, generally because they were in different social circles that weren’t as affected by AIDS (the straight men in the movement, for example). These differences led to divisions within the movement.

In ‘Coming out against the War: Antimilitarism and the Politicization of Homosexuality in the Era of Vietnam.’, the author discusses the Vietnam war and how it impacted the structure of the gay rights movement at the time. This article’s thesis is that antiwar protests against the Vietnam war helped fuel the gay rights movement. This article puts the movement in the broader context of the various radical movements that occurred in the 1960s, which were triggered by the antiwar protests. Specifically, the article puts the gay rights movement in the context of the rising New Left. It also shows how specific issues of the Vietnam war, such as issues surrounding the draft for gay men, were handled by gay activists.

In Kenneth Wald, James Button, and Barbara Rienzo’s article, the authors show that the structure of the Gay Rights movement at the time is what allowed the events at the Stonewall Inn to become a catalyst, rather than the other way around. It also shows how the type of message the movement was oriented around played a part in its success. The thesis of the article is that the practice of social action, the active empowerment of oppressed communities, is vital in activism, as demonstrated by the gay rights movement. The author writes that the gay rights movement was meticulously planned and well structured when Stonewall happened, rather than relying on spontaneous events or charisma. The gay and lesbian community gained political footholds all over the nation so that when Stonewall happened, the news could be communicated throughout the country. The gay rights movement also relied on tactics similar to black liberation movements, such as civil disobedience. They also focused on demanding equality, not on assimilating to the rest of society.

In Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, the author writes about the formation of the early gay rights movement. In the second chapter, Hirshman talks about the founding of the first gay rights organizations. The group that is most talked about is the Mattachines, which was founded based on communist theory about marginalized groups. Their notable achievements were the first gay magazine ONE, and their success in getting Roth v. United States overturned. This allowed the dissemination of gay media, such as magazines or poetry. In the third chapter, Hirshman writes about the gay rights movement in the context of the sixties. The sexual revolution ended up helping the gay rights movement, as the sexual revolution led to the introduction of The Pill, which, along with several Supreme Court cases (Skinner v. Oklahoma and Griswold v. Connecticut), made birth control legal.

This established that sex and reproduction are two separate things in the eyes of the law, and Justice Wiliam O. Douglas’ opinion stating that people have a right to privacy in the bedroom helps further the legal cause for gay rights. The sixties also led to the further radicalization of the movement, which led to several Supreme Court victories (Scott v. Macy, Norton v. Macy) that were huge steps to protecting gay people from being fired. This decade is also characterized by shifting public opinion towards gay rights, and generally more attention being brought to the movement. However, the movement was getting caught up in New Left politics, causing them to take up New Left issues, resulting in internal divisions. The biggest dividing factor in the movement was whether to emphasize the similarity gay people had with heterosexual people, or whether to establish themselves as their own community, separate from straight people.

All of these sources were well written and relatively easy to read. However, the most engaging source was definitely Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution. The language is clear, engaging, and easy to comprehend. Rather than being written like rote history, it is written like a novel; it makes the movement seem like a grand quest. Because it is written like this, the obvious protagonist becomes the supporters and organizers of the movement. This leads to a bias towards the movement, but it is still a great source nevertheless. It is also the most comprehensive, covering from the beginning of the 20th-century to close to the present day. One source that presents an intriguing insight is “’Last Night, I Prayed to Matthew’: Matthew Shepard, Homosexuality, and Popular Martyrdom in Contemporary America.” This provides an interesting insight as to how Matthew Shepard’s death pushed LGBT acceptance into the mainstream, as well as encouraging discussion about martyrdom in American culture. Another intriguing article is “The Gag Reflex: Disgust Rhetoric and Gay Rights in American Politics,” providing illuminating insight as to how exactly some politicians have conveyed disgust towards gay people. The discussions in this article can also be applicable to other marginalized groups as well, making it all the more intriguing.

Bibliography

1. Bishin, Benjamin G., Thomas J. Hayes, Matthew B. Incantalupo, and Charles Anthony Smith. ‘Opinion Backlash and Public Attitudes: Are Political Advances in Gay Rights Counterproductive?’ American Journal of Political Science 60, no. 3 (2016): 625-648. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24877485.
2. Cohan, A. S. ‘Obstacles to Equality: Government Responses to the Gay Rights Movement in the United States.’ Political Studies 30, no. 1 (1982): 59–76. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.1982.tb00519.x.
3. Gadarian, Shana Kushner, and Eric van der Vort. ‘The Gag Reflex: Disgust Rhetoric and Gay Rights in American Politics.’ Political Behavior 40, no. 2 (2018): 521–543. doi:10.1007/s11109-017-9412-x.
4. Hall, Simon. ‘Americanism, Un-Americanism, and the Gay Rights Movement.’ Journal of American Studies 47, no. 4 (2013): 1109-1130. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24485877.
5. Hirshman, Linda. Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.
6. Hoffman, Scott W. ”Last Night, I Prayed to Matthew’: Matthew Shepard, Homosexuality, and Popular Martyrdom in Contemporary America.’ Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation 21, no. 1 (2011): 121-164. doi:10.1525/rac.2011.21.1.121.
7. Jennings, M. Kent, and Ellen Ann Andersen. ‘Support for Confrontational Tactics among AIDS Activists: A Study of Intra-Movement Divisions.’ American Journal of Political Science 40, no. 2 (1996): 311-334. doi:10.2307/2111626.
8. Poindexter, Cynthia Cannon. ‘Sociopolitical Antecedents to Stonewall: Analysis of the Origins of the Gay Rights Movement in the United States.’ Social Work 42, no. 6 (1997): 607-615. http://search.ebscohost.com.cobbcat.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=62642&site=eds-live&scope=site.
9. Rupp, Leila J. ‘WHAT’S QUEER GOT TO DO WITH IT?’ Reviews in American History 38, no. 2 (2010): 189-198. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40865341.
10. Suran, Justin David. ‘Coming out against the War: Antimilitarism and the Politicization of Homosexuality in the Era of Vietnam.’ American Quarterly 53, no. 3 (2001): 452-488. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30041901.
11. Wald, Kenneth D., James W. Button, and Barbara A. Rienzo. ‘The Politics of Gay Rights in American Communities: Explaining Antidiscrimination Ordinances and Policies.’ American Journal of Political Science 40, no. 4 (1996): 1152-1178. doi:10.2307/2111746.

As a response to the disapproval of homosexuality, popular songs promoting gay rights through meaningful instrumental music and lyrics have been effective to bring the attention of the issue to the general public. Even way before same-sex marriage was legalized, the first openly lesbian singer in the 1990s Melissa Etheridge released “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One” to share her experience in lesbian relationships (McKinley Jr., 2013). Singers with similar intentions, like Frank Ocean, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga released songs about accepting homosexuality to support gay rights. In the album The Heist, the song “Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert was released in July of 2012 and became one of Macklemore’s first hits, reaching tenth on Billboard Hot 100 Chart and gaining a nomination for Song of The Year at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (Vale, 2016). It also won the title of Best Video With A Social Message at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2013 (Songfacts). The song “Same Love” portrays the message to accept homosexual relationships and marriage by incorporating personal stories and experiences, containing powerful lyrics, and manipulating the musical dynamics in the song.

Writing the rap lines of “Same Love,” Macklemore was inspired by his familial background and his eagerness to stop homophobia and prejudice against same-sex relationships in the hip-hop community. Even as two straight men, Macklemore and his music producer Ryan Lewis both agree that gay rights are like human rights. Especially Macklemore strongly supports embracing different sexualities because of his early exposure to a gay community at home with his two gay uncles and a gay godfather (McKinley Jr., 2013). He feels that the hip-hop industry is to be blamed for using “gay slurs” that encourage young listeners to use the same epithets as a means to bully gay teenagers, potentially causing insecure young adults to develop depression or even commit suicide (McKinley Jr., 2013). Macklemore not only incorporates his political view about same-sex marriage in his songs, but he also expresses his opinion about white privilege in his two-part song “White Privilege I/II” and brings a sense of nostalgia in “Good Old Days,” which is one of my favorites. As the chorus singer in the collaboration with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Lambert’s written lyrics also tell a personal story from back at home. Coming out as a lesbian at the age of seventeen, Lambert grew up as an Evangelical Christian and struggled with being comfortable with her sexuality (Agandi, 2016). Her lyrics “And I can’t change, even if I tried/ Even if I wanted to/ My love, my love, my love, my love/ She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm” in “Same Love” comes from her own song “She Keeps Me Warm” about her personal experiences as a lesbian (Lambert, 2013). All in all, “Same Love” is a very personal song to all three artists and was intentionally written to spread the message of accepting homosexuality and same-sex marriage, which was politically influential as the song was released.

From the gay liberation movement in the 1960s to the 1970s, supporting gay rights has been controversial to this day. The time that “Same Love” was produced was relatively close to the time for gay marriage polling. With pro-gay-rights as the theme, “Same Love” guided the support from young adults in the polls as the Supreme Court reconsidered the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage only between men and women, and the ban on same-sex marriage in California (McKinley Jr., 2013). The song also served as a theme song for the campaign to support Washington State’s Referendum 74 which legalized same-sex marriage (Vale, 2016). Along with reaching out to voters to boost support for gay rights, “Same Love” also contains lyrics that appeal to homosexual individuals who face similar emotional struggles and obstacles mentioned in the song. (I still have to add more info)

The song begins with Macklemore rapping about learning different sexualities in his childhood. He talks about gender and homosexual stereotypes: girls like to draw, guys like to play baseball, and homosexuals only have the characteristics of the sex they like (Haggerty, 2012). Following his childhood story, Macklemore mocks political and religious figures who think that homosexuality can be “treated” and “cured,” implying that he does not think being homosexual is a sin (Haggerty, 2012). Lambert then sings the chorus about how she cannot change her sexuality even if she tried and describes her partner who makes her feel “warm” (Lambert, 2012). The word choice of “warm” shows that Lambert feels comfortable and has a sense of security in her partner’s arms. When I listened to the song, Macklemore and Lambert’s beginning verses brought my attention to the unfair treatment towards homosexuals and evoked my emotions of sympathy and compassion. On the other hand, if the audience were homosexual individuals themselves, these lyrics could help unite their feelings of frustration, helplessness, and unwantedness, whether it is triggered politically or religiously. Macklemore’s next verses of rap address the oppressive culture the hip-hop world is forming, utilizing aggressive language like “faggot” to emphasize the issue (Haggerty, 2012). Lambert’s repetitive chorus then follows and transitions into Macklemore’s last verses of rap. He uses “play” and “pause” of possibly a video or song as an analogy for continuing the fight for homosexual equality (Haggerty, 2012). He appeals to the homosexual audience by mentioning the despair they develop from the hateful and unaccepting world (Haggerty, 2012). Lastly, Macklemore directly talks to the general public saying that only we can change how we think and be more accepting, not laws (Haggerty, 2012). No matter what religion we believe in, we are all human and equally deserve love (Haggerty, 2012). Finally, the song ends with a personification of love, repetitively describing it as patient and kind (Lambert, 2012). The music artists not only manipulate their lyrics to portray their message, but they also take advantage of music dynamics.

“Same Love” includes a strategic format, a balance of background music and lyrics are sung, and repetition to deliver the main message more effectively. The song’s duration is five minutes and nineteen seconds, which is considered to be longer than average songs. At the beginning of “Same Love,” Lewis plays simple piano notes and instrumental music that lasts for forty-one seconds until Macklemore starts his rap, creating a gentle, smooth transition. The combination of catchy beats and repetitive piano chords compliments Macklemore’s rhythm and rhyme, making it easy to follow along with. Throughout the song, there is a trend of connecting Lewis’s simple piano chords with Macklemore’s rap verses to allow the audience to focus on the lyrics. To emphasize Macklemore’s lyrics and improve flow, Lewis would vary from loud to soft and back to loud keys. Macklemore’s chronology of addressing the issue first and then proposing a solution was a clever, effective strategy.

INTRODUCTION

Advertisements are ubiquitous; hence, these are seen in different forms such as print and electronic which make the advertisements more interesting, creative, attractive, and persuasive especially in terms of appearance. Cook (1992, p.5) says that advertising is a well-known type of discourse in the society. Moreover, it is well-established and it has also been progressing especially in the modern era that people live in.

Companies advertise in order for the people to recognize and eventually patronize their products. According to Thomas (2016) only 50% of all advertisements are effective in motivating customers to choose or decide on the products that they like or want to buy. After which, they will either stick to the product as their brand or completely change it and they will try to look for a new one. This only means that companies use signs and symbols in their advertisements to attract people. This way, people can consider of buying their products. Fisk (1990, p.43) states that signs carry something that generates meaning. As a matter of fact, Saussure supposes that language is constructed by arbitrary signs. Therefore, signs are physical objects that carry meaning and they can either be signifier or signified. Signifier is the discrete visual element while signified is the meaning or idea expressed by the sign.

Nowadays, advertisements have become a tool for communication that influences people’s attitude toward the product that the company is selling, the brand name of the product, and the company itself, among others (Chand and Chaudhary 2012, p.40). According to Williamson (1983), an advertisement does not initially create meaning; instead, it invites people to make a transaction where is passed from one thing to another. This only exudes the critical role of advertisements in persuading consumers to buying products. To successfully convey meaning of the advertisement, the meaning of signs has to be understood. Fairclough (1962) states that individual signs and their combinations are controlled in such a way that it needs to have a persuasive function in advertisements. Therefore, in doing a semiotic analysis of an advertisement, it has to be thoroughly executed and if there is a need for the signs and symbols to be taken out of the page of the ad, this must be done.

Bignell (1997, p.78) believes that when scanning the print ads, the qualities that bring it together and set it apart from other media are the ones that could be labeled, ‘artistic’; the range of color, the sense of sign, intertextuality and the beauty of the forms. For instance, many print advertisements are found in magazines which are said to be “just a collection of signs.” These signs may include paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements such as the title of the magazine, the fonts used, the layout, the colors, the texture of the paper, the language adopted, and the content of the articles, among others. Each of these signs has been selected because it has a corresponding meaning.

Apparently, advertising can do a lot of things. It is in fact, an agent or some kind of force that moves across culture, race, and various perspectives and ideologies which are motivated just to increase sales at the end of the tunnel. The power and influence brands have toward people cannot be denied but are justified by how much is invested in it. This is why it is imperative to look deeper on how it influences especially when this influence is used to disrupt the status quo. Therefore, a thorough analysis of the signs and symbols is needed to decipher and completely understand the message that the advertisement wants to convey. In the current era, companies use different images, stories, among others to capture the interest of the people. As a matter of fact, one of the hottest issues in the country is gender equality; hence, many companies use this ideology to promote their products.

Theoretical Support

This paper is anchored on the theory of the grammar of visual design proposed by Kress and Leeuwen (1996) for analyzing visual communication.

Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996) introduce the existence of a visual code or grammar of visual design. This encapsulates the idea that both visual and verbal structures can be used to express meanings drawn from common cultural sources. For instance, linguistic structures and visual structures point to particular interpretations of experience and forms of social interactions (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996, p.2). This only suggests that meaning can be both drawn from verbal and visual structures and not just by verbal structures alone. Hence, they debunk the argument of Barthes’ which is, “The meaning of images (and of other semiotic codes) is always related to, and in a sense, depended on verbal text.” (Barthes, 1967, cited in Kress & van Leewen, 2006, p.17).

Statement of the Problem

The present paper focuses on the gayness in print advertisement. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the ideological concepts used in the print advertisement?
2. Which among the colors, signs, and symbols found in the print advertisement associated to gayness?

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The study used the qualitative method to gather comprehensive data and in-depth understanding on the existence of Gayness in Print Advertisement.

This study focuses on the print advertisement that Bench launched in February 2015 which promotes same-sex relationship. Moreover, in this study, ideological concepts combine with semiotic analyzing of these ads to find their interdiscursal features according to what proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

According to Bignell (2002, p.32) the first step in analyzing an advertisement is to note the various signs in the advertisement itself. Therefore, it can be assumed that anything which seems to carry a meaning in the ad is a sign.

In February 2015, Bench, one of the biggest local clothing lines in the country launched its billboard in EDSA titled, “All kinds of love.” The advertisement became controversial because it was about gayness or homosexuality. Tsai (2006) writes about the crucial nature of advertising for LGBTQIA+ community formation, “Advertising targeting gay consumers manifests marketing ideologies that attempt to define and shape the contemporary conception of gayness” (p. 27). Obviously, the goal of Bench’s advertisement was to promote the mantra, “Loving all kinds of love” which means love has no boundaries and this includes same-sex relationship.

In the advertisement, Bench which is the advertising company used a large, capital, white text, and bold letters in highlighting its slogan which is, “Love all kinds of love.” It is also placed in the center of the advertisement and written on the image. This is perhaps to draw the readers’ attention and trigger their curiosity about the message of the advertisement. This way, the readers will be eager to know more about the advertisement, read more information about it, and eventually go to Bench and buy its products.

Kress (2010, p.88) states that meaning can be drawn through the quality of font such as its color. Moreover, the color of the advertisement in general is dark. According to Scott-Kemmis (2018), deep and heavy colors suggest control, steadiness and conservatism or sophistication, or drama and boldness or combination of all. Thus, meaning is socially made, socially agreed and socially and culturally specific. This is very much applicable to the Bench advertisement for the reason that the two men in the advertisement seem sophisticated yet bold because they are not afraid to show the public about their status.

Color is the first thing that the readers notice; hence, this plays an important role especially to the success of the advertisement. Advertisers use color to reflect a specific brand, as well as to communicate a certain mood dictated by the product and the meaning of the advertisement that the advertiser wants to send across.

The advertiser used an image of two men who look good, neat and decent. Both of them are wearing a suit which exudes that they are from a well-off and known family. They are Vince Uy who is a creative director and his boyfriend Nino Gaddi who is a makeup artist. Beasley & Danesi (2002) believe that the ads are usually endorsed by celebrities to make the product appear reliable. This is a strategy on the part of the advertiser to capture the attention of the people especially the members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Looking at the advertisement, the two men are both smiling and it seems that they are close and have known each other for some time. However, if the reader pays close attention to the details of the advertisement, then, it is noticeable that the left arm of the man on the left side of the advertisement is wrapped around the neck of the other man while his right hand is holding the right shoulder of the man on the right. Looking at this, the readers would have an idea that the two men in the advertisement are not just friends. It is also noticeable that they are holding hands. Moreover, their faces and bodies are touching each other’s. Albeit, there is no lascivious gesture in the advertisement but based on the position, space, and distance of the two men in the advertisement, it is confirmed that they are couple.

The couple in the advertisement is smiling which only exudes that they are happy and probably content with the relationship or status that they have. Their names are even written below the slogan of the advertisement. Although the size of it is small but this does not matter for the reason that the main goal is to send the message of the advertisement across to the readers which is, “Love all kinds of love.” Apparently, this promotes same-sex relationship.

The logo and name of the advertising company are written at the lower left corner of the advertisement. This can mean two things. First, the company supports the LGBTQIA+ community which means that they advocate gender equality and diversity in the society. Second, this is a good marketing ploy. This specifically targets the members of LGBTQIA+ as well as people who are open-minded when it comes to same-sex relationship. This also implies that the advertising company welcomes and accepts diversity.

As a matter of fact, there were certain groups of people who negatively reacted on this advertisement; therefore, the advertising company put a black paint on the hands of the men on the advertisement to cover that they are holding hands a few days after the issue came up. This only implies that there are still a lot of people who cannot accept this kind of relationship. In addition, this also strengthens the fact that conservatism among Filipinos is still observed.

CONCLUSION

This study exudes that different advertising companies use signs, symbols, and colors to successfully communicate the message of the advertisement. The effective use of signs, symbols, and colors highlight the ideologies that are found in the advertisement. Moreover, there are advertising companies who are creative enough and come up with some advertisements that break the old and stereotypical norms such as the use of LGBTQIA+ community which is very timely and relevant especially that a lot members of this community are fighting for their rights as well as equality. Doing this is effective so that the advertisement would catch the attention of the people which is a good marketing ploy.

Throughout human history, science has uncovered the origin of a lot of things. One thing that to this day still gets debated about by scientists is the origins of homosexuality. This debate has been going on for decades and many people have tried to explain it before in the past. Many of the explanations weren’t scientifically backed because of the time they were introduced. The current climate and atmosphere of our society has caused uplifting the LGBTQ+ community to become somewhat of a trend. Due to this, the debate has been brought back up and people want to know where sexuality comes from; but for years as for 1990ss the 1990’s, when the “Human Genome Project” took place, scientists have been providing genetic and epigenetic evidence for a sexuality gene as well as providing logical theories for why these genes may exist.

For decades, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder and it was illegal to act on one’s sexuality. Religion playing such a huge role in how society worked naturally led scientists of the past to present research that said that the brain of homosexual individuals was not as large as their straight counterparts, due to a disorder linked to fetal development to align with what the church said and not what their research clearly provided. This helped further the public opinion on homosexuality making those individuals feel out of place. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1952. Taking it off the mental disorder list helped shift public opinion on homosexuality, but the thing that had the largest impact on public opinion on homosexuality was the Human Genome Project. Even though there was research done previously on homosexuality, the Human Genome Project was a very well known and heavily researched project that was broadcast on television that gave the public a different view of homosexuality.

Scientists have provided a multitude of research for genetics influence on sexuality but the focus will be on two specific pieces of scientific research both done in the 1990’s. The genetic basis of sexual orientation, which are J. Michael Bailey and Richard Pillard’s twin study (1991), and Dean Hamer et al.’s study of genetic markers for homosexuality on the X chromosome. The first study being discussed is Bailey and Pillard’s study, ‘A Genetic Study of Male Sexual Orientation’. The two scientists publicized there study in magazines in an effort to attract gay men with a twin brother, or an adoptive brother who had been adopted into the family at an age of less than three. The gay men were interviewed about the sexuality of themselves and their brothers, and then had to fill out a questionnaires to determine their sexuality.

The twin brothers were also asked to confirm if they were identical twins or fraternal twins. The results were 52% (29/56) of the identical twins included in the study were homosexual while 22% (12/54) of fraternal twins were homosexual , and only 11% (6/57) of adoptive brothers were homosexual. These result lead both Bailey and Pillard to conclude that there is a genetic basis for homosexuality. Dean Hamer et al’s study which was published 2 years after Bailey and Pillard’s study is next. In his study he had 38 pairs of homosexual brothers and their relatives all above the age of 18, with two families added from a previous sample. The total participants numbers was 114. Hamer choose the families very intentionally in order to test his hypothesis which was there is a maternally transmitted genetic

This essay is about families with LGBTQ+ parents. The things being discussed are how children of these families thrive socially and academically, what challenges they might face, how materials in classrooms reflect LGBTQ+, if they are welcomed into early learning programs, and if there are written materials that appropriately give light to diverse families.

Do Children Raised in These Families Thrive (Academically and Social Emotionally)?

It seems that children of LGBTQ+ parents can thrive social-emotional wise as much as children with heterosexual parents. According to The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), research shows that children with gay and lesbian parents do not vary in their emotional development or interaction with peers and adults from children with heterosexual parents (2019).This means that a child’s social-emotional development is not affected by whether or not their parent(s) identify as gay or lesbian. The only difference there seems to be is that children of LGBQ+ parents tend to be more open and accepting of diversity (Clarke and Demetriou, 2016 pg.133). This is because their parents will teach them to be open and accepting of others. So, children with LGBTQ+ parents can thrive socially and emotionally because with this kind of attitude their friends will most likely enjoy talking to them. Their friends also have a higher chance of forming stronger bonds and disclose personal information to them because they will know that they are not as likely to judge.

What Are Some of the Major Issues and Challenges That Might Confront These Families?

A few challenges that might confront these families is lack of representation and misrepresentation. For instance, children’s literature representing LGBTQ+ characters are not as common as books with Heterosexual characters, and sometimes they are not accurate (Cade, 2019 p.6). One other challenge that these families might face is negative social interactions. Not everyone is accepting of LGBTQ+ people and unfortunately, LGBTQ+ parents have to prepare their children for negative interactions (de Melendez & Beck, 2019 p.75). This means that both the parents and their children have to worry and look out for people that might show hate towards them.

How Do/Do Not Teacher and School Resources and Classroom Materials (Books, Toys, Dramatic Play Props, etc.) Reflect the Diversity of LGBTQ+ Families?

A study was done in May of this year by Emily Cade (2019), where she researched a handful of elementary educators and how they incorporate multiculturalism. According to Cade (2019), only 17% of the educators brought up LGBTQ+ and diverse family formations, and how they’ll look for diverse materials and authors (p.15). This means that the discussion of LGBTQ+ or other family formations was not brought up as much as other topics while discussing multiculturalism. What she discovered was that many of the books in the classroom lacked diversity and that while searching for books, many educators didn’t think to look for diversity (Cade, 2019 p.7). So, this means that it depends on the class, some of the classes don’t have materials that reflect LGBTQ+ families and some had educators that actively searched for materials.

Are these families welcomed into early learning programs?

It depends on the school, the teachers, and the parents of other students on whether or not these families are welcomed into early learning programs. According to Beren (2013), there have been many groups and parents that are opposed to the idea of LGBTQ+ people and learning about them (p.62). The parents learned that this was because of their sexual identity. Although, there has been work being done about this. For instance, Welcoming Schools.org have guides and resources on how to be welcoming to all children and families.

Are there appropriate written materials reflecting diverse family arrangements?

There are appropriate written materials reflecting diverse family arrangements. Books such as All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, Families by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly, and Family Is a Family Is a Family, Sara O’Leary (Welcoming Schools). Each of these books portrays a variety of diverse families.

References

1. Beren, M. (2013). Gay and Lesbian Families in the Early Childhood Classroom: Evaluation of an Online Professional Development Course [pdf]. LEARNing Landscapes, 7(1), 61-79.
2. Cade, E. (2019). Incorporating Multicultural Children’s Literature into the Classroom (Doctoral dissertation, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana ). Retrieved from http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/201872/2019CadeEmily-combined.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=9&zoom=auto,-193,731
3. Clarke, V., & Demetriou, E. (2016). ‘Not a big deal’? Exploring the accounts of adult children of lesbian, gay and trans parents. Psychology & Sexuality, 7(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2015.1110195
4. de Melendez, W., & Beck, V. (2019). Teaching young children in multicultural classrooms: Issues concepts, and strategies (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Great LGBTQ Inclusive Picture & Middle Grade Books. (n.d.). Retrieved from Welcoming Schools website: http://www.welcomingschools.org/pages/books-inclusive-of-LGBTQ-family-members-and-characters/
5. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Parents. (2019, May). Retrieved from The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) website: https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-with-Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-and-Transgender-Parents-092.aspx