A new study was done that looked at LGBTQ+ adults and how they still keep in touch with the parents who “rejected” them as youths. Despite the world coming a long way, there is still work to be done in regard to the LGBTQ+ community, particularly youth. The world has become a more welcoming world, but youth still face challenges as they feel more comfortable about opening up about who they are and living their truth. Part of finding out how to make the world even better is looking at past generations and learning from them.
According to Study Finds, a study was done that looked at why LGBTQ+ adults keep in touch with the parents who rejected them. Sadly, there are a lot of youths who are cut off from their family when they come out, and it can be hard to believe that some of them would continue to work on relationships with the family who turned them away.
This study, which was done by Ohio State University, can be read in full here. The study found that these adults still try hard to keep relationships with their parents and families, and researchers wanted to know why that is, especially when it comes along with heartbreak and pain for them.
Two sociologists talked with 76 members of the LGBTQ+ community and 44 of their parents to see why they are trying to make these relationships work.
Rin Reczek was one of the authors, and she stated that they found out that there is something called “compulsory kinship,” and this is that there is a belief that family is “untouchable” and that it should be maintained no matter what. They stated that most of the answers that were given by the community tended to be contradictory. They would talk about how much they were hurt and rejected, but that they loved them and that they were still close.
The second theme they saw was that the LGBTQ+ adults saw growth in their parents. Some saw real growth in their parents when it came to acceptance and love. And some “thought” they had grown, but it was really just hope that their parents would change their views one day.
The biggest theme they saw was that most viewed the relationship between parent and child as “mandatory.” They would hear things about how there was no love in the relationships, but the person was still their mother, father, etc.
This study found that the relationship between adult children and their parents is complex, and the younger generations can definitely learn from this.
Sources: Study Finds, OSU News