‘This is real now because it’s a piece of paper’: texts, disability, and LGBTQ parents

Abstract

What role do texts play in LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) parents’ experiences of disability service systems? In interviews with 15 LGBTQ parents of disabled children in Toronto, Canada, participants selected documents to be used as a focus for discussion. Parents considered how LGBTQ identity and other intersectional identities influenced their experiences of institutional texts including adoption certificates, intake forms, and assessments. Findings suggest that documentation practices can operate as forms of systemic gatekeeping. LGBTQ identity was sometimes very significant in parents’ accounts, and sometimes less central than other aspects of their families' identities and experiences.

Keywords:

• Disability services
• parents
• LGBTQ community
• ethnography

Notes

1. I am indebted to Judith Butler’s reflections on the dual meanings of the verb ‘to matter’ as both material and interpretive (Butler 1993).

2. While the term ‘parent’ is ostensibly gender-neutral, caring for children and for people with disabilities is highly gendered work that has been largely relegated to mothers (Green 2004; Traustadottir 1991). As fathering researchers have identified, even when fathers are primary or sole caregivers, caring for children is gendered work that is presumed to ‘properly’ belong to mothers (Doucet 2006; Stacey 2006).

3. For a critique of the term ‘special needs’ in education, see Runswick-Cole and Hodge (2009). In North America the use of this term extends beyond education to include all childhood disability.

4. All research activities followed the protocol approved by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board.