University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation Formatting Template

WE ARE DIFFERENT, BUT WE WANT THE SAME RIGHTS: AN INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF BLACK LESBIANS WHO ARE PARENTING IN NORTH FLORIDA By CLARE WALSH A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 1 © 2013 Clare Walsh 2 To the women who told me their stories 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Pastor Val and the women who graciously agreed to tell me their stories, without their support this dissertation would never have been possible. I would like to thank all of the members of my committee: Kendal Broad-Wright (co- chair), Milagros Peña (co-chair), Tanya Koropeckyj-Cox (internal member), and Katheryn Russell-Brown (external member) for their thoughtful insights, continued support and encouragement. I would also like to thank the University of Florida Graduate School for their financial support in awarding me a Dissertation Scholarship. I would like to thank all of the colleagues and friends I have made while a graduate student at the University of Florida. Your support, encouragement and conversations over a cold beer have made me a better sociologist and have definitely made grad school more bearable. I would like to thank my friends in Wright, Wyoming for their encouragement helping me to make the decision to leave my comfort zone and take on this part of my journey. I miss you all every day. I would especially like to thank my family for their limitless emotional support: my mother Mamie; my children Sheena and Daryl and their families—Jordan, Kaitlyn, and Keith, Daniel and Anthony; my sister Anne, and her kids Elizabeth and Caleb. I especially want to acknowledge, what I know is, the continuing support of my father, Tony, as he keeps an eye out for all of us. Now I can finally say, “Dad, I am done!” Finally, I would like to thank my partner Eileen, for I could not have made it through this part of my journey without “the best support staff ever.” 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 9 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 15 Households in Florida Headed by Lesbians and Gay Men ..................................... 15 Heterosexism in the Study of Families Headed by Lesbians and Gay Men ............ 16 Racism in the Study of Families Headed by African Americans ............................. 25 Race and Sexuality ................................................................................................. 30 African American Attitudes to Homosexuality ................................................... 30 African Americans and a Lesbian/Gay Identity ................................................. 36 African American Families and Lesbian/Gay Family Members ........................ 39 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 44 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH DESIGN .................................. 45 The Concept of “Family” ......................................................................................... 45 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 47 Symbolic Interaction ......................................................................................... 47 Intersectionality ................................................................................................ 50 Feminist Theory and Feminist Standpoint Theory ............................................ 51 Research Design .................................................................................................... 53 Recruitment and Sample .................................................................................. 53 Outsider/Insider Debate ................................................................................... 61 The Interviews .................................................................................................. 64 Profile of Interview Participants ........................................................................ 68 Analysis .................................................................................................................. 69 4 OUR FAMILY IS THE SAME AS YOUR FAMILY—TREAT US THAT WAY ........... 73 We All Bleed the Same Blood ................................................................................. 73 Family Recognition Is Important ............................................................................. 82 Ordinance 2012-296 ............................................................................................... 86 We Should Be Able to Marry the Ones We Love .................................................... 89 Adoption Rights are Important ................................................................................ 95 Legal Adoption Links Child(ren) to Non-Biological Parent ................................ 96 Foster Families Headed by Gay Parents Are the Same Too .......................... 101 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 103 5 5 IT REALLY IS, NOT JUST GAY, BUT AFRICAN AMERICAN GAY ..................... 105 Black Lesbian Experiences of Homophobia .......................................................... 105 Black Lesbian Experiences of the Black Church ................................................... 114 Black Lesbian Identity: The Stud/Femme Dynamic .............................................. 122 Black Lesbian Parenting ....................................................................................... 126 Talk to Children about Homophobia ............................................................... 127 Talk to Children about Racism ....................................................................... 129 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 132 6 SURE THERE’S RACISM. BUT HOMOPHOBIA—THAT’S DIFFERENT ............ 134 Everyday Homophobia as More Salient ................................................................ 135 Don’t Want to Tense Nobody Up .......................................................................... 140 People Are Able to Pick Up on It ........................................................................... 145 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 149 7 BLACK AND LESBIAN AND PARENTS: WE ARE DIFFERENT, BUT WE WANT THE SAME RIGHTS ................................................................................. 151 Summary of Significant Findings .......................................................................... 151 Areas of Future Research ..................................................................................... 155 Significance and Contributions of this Study ......................................................... 156 APPENDIX A SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE .......................................................... 160 B TABLE OF INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS ................................. 163 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 164 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 179 6 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy WE ARE DIFFERENT, BUT WE WANT THE SAME RIGHTS: AN INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF BLACK LESBIANS WHO ARE PARENTING IN NORTH FLORIDA By Clare Walsh August 2013 Chair: Kendal Broad-Wright Co-Chair: Milagros Peña Major: Sociology Almost 85,000 black lesbian and gay couples live in the United States, representing 14 percent of all same-sex couples. Little is specifically known about this group since most sexuality research focuses on white gay people and most race research focuses on black heterosexuals. Black same-sex couple’s experiences highlight the unique circumstance found at the intersection of sexuality and race. I conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve black lesbian who were parenting children alone and in couples asking them their perspectives on issues faced by their families as they negotiate a social world of intersecting oppressions. A symbolic interactionist theoretical frame was used with a constructivist grounded theory analysis to give increased voice to those black lesbians who are parenting. My analysis shows that black lesbians who are parenting feel the same, yet different. They spoke in terms of sameness as they sought to be seen as legitimate families who should be treated equally with the equal right to marry or adopt children. They noted difference as they expressed feelings that their experiences provide 7 distinctive challenges for them as both black and lesbian. They especially highlight how they define their sexuality in racialized terms, negotiate it in racially-defined

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