"Who are you?": Same-gender parented families navigation of tensions around family diversity in early education settings

Abstract

As children and their families engage with settings outside the home they encounter systems and structures in which prevalent norms and values can differ markedly to their own. This article draws attention to experiences of same-gender attracted parents and their children as they encounter and challenge heteronormativity in early education settings. Drawing on interview data from a small-scale qualitative study that investigated how lesbians and gay men create and maintain family in contemporary New Zealand society, the article also highlights how families manage anticipated and actual homophobia. It foregrounds tensions between such experiences and inclusive legislation and policy. Then, by drawing attention to practices that affirmed these families’ diversity and protected their rights to full inclusion the article shows how family diversity in educational contexts can enrich and strengthen relationships between parents, children and teachers in mutual and beneficial ways.