Queering the American Family

In the existing,but sparse academic literature that exists, queer lives and lifestyles have consistently been juxtaposed to an intangible hetero-normative ideal. This becomes particularly problematic for the study of this distinctly varied population, when operationalizing gendered markers that are typically correlated with the concept of relationships,family and family life. Many, if not most of the indices are composed of dichotomous variables that are only applicable to the lives of a hetero-normative population. Today, it is still the case that those who declare LBGTQ identities often do so at the risk of undermining relationships with families of origin (Patterson, 2000).It is also the case that we have our most intimate of relationships vilified and marginalized, though I argue, more covertly than overtly forty plus years after the Stonewall riots. It is of particular interest to my research to ascertain just how queers construct the concept of partnership and of family. Are queer couplings destined to fail, unstable, as is the argument social conservatives? What forms of social networks are formed within the queer community? How do LGBTQs construct the concept of family?