Gay and lesbian adolescents and their parents: How Czech families negotiate coming out
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2004 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | IX Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence. Abstracts. |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Psychology |
| Keywords | homosexuality; adolescence; coming out |
| Description | For many gay and lesbian youths, the most difficult decision to make after recognizing their nontraditional sexual orientation is whether to reveal to their parents that they will not be fulfilling their expectations. Parents represent a significant factor in their childs developing sense of self-worth and sexual identity, especially in terms of a youth feeling comfortable with his or her homosexuality and of a youth disclosing this information to others. This poster is based on a qualitative research project. Its main objective was to map out lives of Czech gay and lesbian youth and provide a deeper insight into a developmental trajectory of alternatively oriented youth. A special attention was paid to the homosexual identity formation process, adaptation difficulties, social acceptance and specific aspects of close interpersonal relationships particular focus was put on parents and peers. The results indicate that coming out process represents a key component that influences and modifies long term close interpersonal relationships. We identified several specifications concerning the heterosexual parent gay child relationship e.g. discrepancy in parental roles, communication patterns, fear of refusal, parents reaction to coming out. |
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