Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Children who denied the nature of their family did so more from concern
about others' reactions than from negative feelings about parents (Garner,
2005). A study of gay father families concluded that adolescent children were
less likely to disclose the nature of the family than were the parents (Demo
& Allen, 1996). Children of gay or lesbian parents may fear identification of
themselves as gay or lesbian and conceal the nature of the family (Bozett,
1987). There is, though, no evidence that children of same-sex couples are
more likely to have homosexual feelings (Garner, 2005).
The presence of children adds to the diversity of gay and lesbian
families. Parents may be of the same or different sex and children may be
biological, adopted or fostered. Such families, although as 'good' as other
families, do face particular issues with public acceptance. There does appear,
nonetheless, to be an increased visibility of such families and possibly an
increasing desire on the part of some gay and (especially) lesbian people to
parent children.
Market Size
Given the diversity and non-institutionalisation of gay or lesbian families,
it is difficult to obtain an indication of market size or potential. Gay men,
in particular, have been regarded as having particularly high discretionary
incomes and leisure time and identified as a growing and profitable market
to target for many consumer products and services (Guaracino, 2007;
Hughes, 2006).
The number of gay or lesbian people is not, though, known with
certainty; one review of estimates of the extent of homosexuality in North
America showed they ranged from 0.2% to 37% of national populations
(Banks, 2003). In a national UK household survey, 1.5% of adults identified
themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual (Office for National Statistics, 2010a);
the survey asked about people's sexual identity and not sexual attraction
or sexual behaviour. Higher proportions reported in other studies may be
the result of having included responses about these matters (Joloza
et al
.,
2010). The UK government had earlier estimated that 5% of the population
(over 16) in Britain was gay, lesbian or bisexual (Department of Trade and
Industry, 2003).
The number of gay and lesbian people who live as couples was estimated
in the UK national census of 2001. This was a crude estimate, in that the
census identified same-sex couples who lived in the same household and
did not identify sexual identity; nor did it take account of any same-sex
'couples' or partners who did not live together. It was reported that 78,000
individuals in England and Wales co-habited in a same-sex relationship
(about 0.3% of co-residential couples) (BBC News, 2004; Duncan & Phillips,
2008). The advent of civil partnerships for same-sex couples in the UK since
2005 gives an indication of what may be conventionally labelled 'family'. In
