ABSTRACT
This second chapter introduces a literature review on LGBTQ+ parents and schools using parent reflections showing the lack of information and misinformation on LGBTQ+ parents in schools and education thinking. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the historical development of research exploring LGBTQ+ parents, its dominant themes, and several critiques. As previous research has noted that teachers and educators may hold negative beliefs and assumptions toward LGBTQ+ parents, this chapter discusses information related to LGBTQ+ parented families as a potential method to address negative stereotypes and myths held by educational professionals. This chapter describes some of the societal, legal, and medical lenses that have been applied to previous research exploring LGBTQ+ parented families and their contributions to the development of this body of research. The review specifically highlights anti-LGBTQ+ research emerging in the 1950s–1960s and re-emerging in the 1990s, studies exploring the developmental outcomes of LGBTQ+ parented children in the 1980s, research exploring the family structures and experiences of LGBTQ+ parented families in the 1990s, and the small body of research exploring parents’ experiences specifically in school contexts. This chapter concludes with a summary of key points raised in the review and consideration of the next chapter.
