"Risking the Kids" versus "Double the Love": Couple-counsellors in Conversation on LGB Parenting.

Evans, Margaret and Barker, M. (2007) "Risking the Kids" versus "Double the Love": Couple-counsellors in Conversation on LGB Parenting. Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychology Review, 3 (1). ISSN 1833-4512

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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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