LGBTQ parent–child relationships with nonaffirming Christian parents

Abstract

Objective

This paper explores the family experiences of LGBTQ people growing up in nonaffirming, American Christian families.

Background

Previous research has established the importance of parental support for LGBTQ people. However, scholarship exploring family roles and relationships in the context of theological nonaffirmation is less robust and has primarily sampled parents exclusively.

Method

Surveys, genograms, and in-depth interviews were completed with 17 LGBTQ people and 17 of their siblings. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, informed by critical feminist theory.

Results

Results indicated that for LGBTQ participants, the absence of explicit theological affirmation (ETA) from parents contributed to a deterioration of trust and emotional closeness in parent–child relationships. Even when reactions to disclosure were described as positive and warm, and even when parents provided identity-specific support, the absence of ETA left LGBTQ participants with an acute sense of relational ambiguity, grief, and loss. Additionally, acts of reparation were identified as meaningful building blocks of positive, trusting, parent–child relationships.

Conclusion

ETA from parents may be a core component in the formation, repair, and maintenance of positive parent–child relationships for LGBTQ people who were raised in nonaffirming Christian families.

Implications

Previous research has asserted that parental religious beliefs are not a barrier to healthy parent–child relationship for LGBTQ people. This study contributes to a growing body of scholarship suggesting that ETA is an important part of healthy parent–child relationships for LGBTQ people. Mental health practitioners may want to incorporate affirmation-oriented interventions when working with religious families of LGBTQ people.