'Risking the kids' vs. 'double the love': Couple-counsellors in conversation on LGB parenting

Evans, Margaret and Barker, Meg (2007). 'Risking the kids' vs. 'double the love': Couple-counsellors in conversation on LGB parenting. Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychology Review, 3(1) pp. 34–43.

URL: http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/glip/glip_revi...

Abstract

The literature on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) affirmative psychotherapy suggests that heterosexist and homophobic discourses persist in the accounts of counsellors and therapists (Milton, Coyle & Legg, 2005) and that these may particularly cohere around the issue of same-sex parenting (Moon, 1994; Phillips, et al 2000). The current research demonstrates that this was the case in focus group discussions with counsellors working for a UK relationship therapy organisation. Many participants drew on discourses of same-sex parenting as 'risky', reproducing arguments about the 'danger' of potential prejudice that such children may face and the 'necessity' of differently gendered role models (Clarke & Kitzinger, 2005). However, these were sometimes challenged within the discussions, particularly with the offering of an alternative discourse of children of same-sex parents experiencing 'double the love'. The potential of such discussions to resist heterosexist discourses is considered as a possible direction for counsellors' on-going professional development training.

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