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ABSTRACT
The expression ‘coming out’ is generally associated with lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) persons (and other sexual minorities) in the literature on disclosure. However, disclosure literature shows that a child’s coming out of the proverbial closet to the child’s family is often followed by a figurative ‘moving into the closet’ of the child’s parents with regard to their own disclosure of their child’s sexual orientation to others. Like their LGB children, parents go through stage models of identity development as parents of LGB children. Despite the progressive nature of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act no. 108 of 1996) (RSA 1996) on issues affecting sexual minorities, individuals who belong to these minorities still face harassment and violence on a daily basis in some communities. Given this scenario, in this study on six black mothers of LGB children I argue that the reasons some mothers ‘out’ themselves include pledging solidarity with their children; showing unconditional love for their children; normalising LGB identities by queering their homes; and, most importantly, providing their children with protection against the kinds of harassment and violence to which they are subjected in some communities.
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Kulukazi Soldati-Kahimbaara
KULUKAZI SOLDATI-KAHIMBAARA lectures in the Department of English, University of Pretoria. She obtained an MA degree from the North-West University in 2001. Currently, she is completing an MA in Psychology from the University of South Africa. Her areas of interest are language and gender, South African literature, women's poetry, queer theory and LGBTIQ issues. She has published articles on themes related to cities and HIV and AIDS and has presented at national and international conferences.