Perceived parental relationships following disclosure of sexual orientation by lesbian, gay, and bisexual offspring

In a society that appears to be growing more accepting of lesbian and gay people, where prominent individuals can speak more openly about their sexual orientations without fear, there appears to be a growing societal acceptance of non-heterosexual people. Can this growing tolerance be applied to parental relationships with their own lesbian and gay children as well, and does this acceptance of gay and lesbian culture apply when it hits closer to home? This thesis attempted to research perceived parental relationships following the disclosure of sexual orientation by lesbian, gay, bisexual female, and bisexual male offspring. The first hypothesis was that parental relationships with their lesbian, gay, and bisexual offspring will be perceived by offspring as more negative following disclosure of sexual orientation than before disclosure. The second hypothesis was that parental relationships with lesbian and bisexual offspring following disclosure of sexual orientation will be perceived by offspring as more positive in comparison to relationships with gay male offspring following disclosure. Furthermore, the third hypothesis was that parental relationships with lesbian, gay, and bisexual offspring will be perceived by offspring as more positive as the length of time since disclosure increases. The Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), designed by Maureen Kenny, assessed perceptions of current relationships with parents. Two questions assessed perceptions of relationship with parents before and immediately following disclosure of sexual orientation in comparison to the present time. A paired-samples t test comparing the mean scores before disclosure and immediately after disclosure revealed that there was a significant difference between scores before and scores immediately following disclosure, indicating that participants in this study perceived their relationships with their parents as significantly worse immediately following disclosure than before disclosure. There were no significant differences between the four groups on scores on the Parental Attachment Questionnaire. Although research suggests that the "coming out" experiences of lesbians, gay males, and bisexuals may differ, support for this hypothesis was not found in this study. A small but significant positive Pearson correlation was found between length of time since disclosure and Composite, Subscale 1 Affective Quality of Relationships, and Subscale 2 Parents as Facilitators of Independence, scores on the PAQ. A small but significant positive Pearson correlation was also found between age and Composite, Subscale 1, and Subscale 2 scores on the PAQ. A significant Pearson correlation was found between age and length of time since disclosure. No significant correlations were found between age at time of disclosure and composite or subscale scores on the PAQ. An examination of partial correlations statistically controlling for age as a covariate revealed that time since disclosure was no longer correlated with composite scores on the PAQ, or any of the subscales. The results found when controlling for age as a covariate indicate that perceptions of a better may be a result of other age-related factors rather than the time since initial disclosure. This study did not find support for the hypothesis that relationships will improve as the length of time since disclosure increases, however, the findings here indicate that perceived relationships do improve, though identifiable reasons for which were not found here.