Contextualizing Familial Relationships Between Queer Elders of Color: Analyzed Experiences from the Passing It Forward Interview Project

Abstract:This paper explores how LGBTQ elders of color discuss their family relationships, both biological and chosen, in relationship to their activism. Queer and transgender elders were interviewed as part of a national research project. Through analysis of a subset of 12 of these interviews, I found that queer elders had in-depth knowledge of their current families through personal contact, had in/formal adoptions, and received tools from their family through racial identification that they later applied to queer activism. This necessary research demonstrates a clear connection between the fields of family studies and civil rights, while leaning on quare and symbolic interactionist perspectives to reach inclusive and conscious conclusions.