Defining and measuring family: Lessons learned from LGBTQ+ people and families

Objective

This essay discusses the challenges and opportunities of defining family in the context of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people.

Background

LGBTQ+ people and their families remain at the forefront of novel family scholarship. Interrogating methodological approaches to defining family are critical for overcoming the continued marginalization and misrepresentation of LGBTQ+ family scholarship.

Method

We review and present select literature to frame the current challenges and subsequent opportunities for advancing LGBTQ+ family scholarship through the conceptual and methodological defining of family.

Results

Framed in a U.S. context, we discuss the oppressive and emancipatory consequences that have occurred through the project of defining family. We then highlight current challenges of defining LGBTQ+ families, emphasizing data inclusion and measurement considerations that arise when grappling with the methodological complexities of LGBTQ+ people versus LGBTQ+ families, chosen families and fictive kin, LGBTQ+ children in families, and consensually non-monogamous relationships. Throughout, we present opportunities to address current shortcomings within family scholarship regarding LGBTQ+ families. We end with clear and pointed steps on how family researchers can integrate practical but nevertheless influential strategies to advance and enrich LGBTQ+ family research through intentional reflections on research design, sampling, and measurement.

Conclusion

Despite progress, family scholarship alongside current social events entreats a more intentional commitment from family scholars to measure and advocate for data and methods that properly illuminate (LGBTQ+) family life.