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In this article, the authors present a typology for organizing our current knowledge regarding same-sex couples in the United States who have and have not established legal ties between partners. This framework is complemented by a discussion of key rulings that define what is legally possible as well as the introduction of "legal consciousness," a construct for examining how perceptions of legal authority drive engagement with the legal system. Finally, the authors use their analysis to generate questions for future research and discuss policy and practice implications.

Abstract: The Department of Family Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, developed a Preparing Future Faculty and Family Professionals program to enrich the graduate education and professional development of its doctoral students. This article describes key elements of the program, including informing students about the responsibilities of faculty positions at diverse institutions, fostering faculty‐student mentoring relationships, visiting partner colleges/universities, examining requirements of nonacademic family science careers, and preparing students for the job search. Student and faculty evaluations of the program are summarized, and recommendations are made for graduate educators in family science.

This study investigated the experiences of 42 college/university‐level instructors with regard to incorporating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) content into their family‐oriented courses. Based on how supportive they rated their colleagues, departments, and institutions for their teaching about LGBTQ issues, and how open they deemed their students to learning about such perspectives, participants were categorized as working in one of three teaching climates: the least positive, moderately positive, or the most positive. Notably, the authors found that educators faced resistance from other faculty members in addition to students. Further, most faculty assessed their students as open to learning about LGBTQ issues, yet teaching about transgender and queer issues appeared to be particularly challenging for some. Perceived challenges varied by the teaching climates in which participants reportedly worked. The challenges and strategies shared by participants have implications for both faculty and administrators concerned with creating more inclusive classrooms and departments.

Family courts have lacked familiarity with evidence‐based recommendations regarding the best interests of transgender and gender‐nonconforming (TGNC) children, resulting in some affirming parents losing physical and/or legal custody. This exploratory, qualitative study with 10 affirming mothers of TGNC children who had experienced custody‐related challenges reported on salient themes, including "blame" for causing children's gender nonconformity, coercion by ex‐partners, bias in the courts, negative impact on children, emotional and financial toll on participants, and the critical importance of adequate resources. Findings indicate the need for better‐educated family court professionals, as well as socioemotional support and financial and legal assistance for affirming parents of TGNC children.

In this article, we use an ambiguous loss framework to guide a process for decentering cisnormativity (the assumption that biological sex and gender are aligned) within families, specifically for those experiencing the gender identity transitions of family members. Individual family members have varied experiences with regard to gender transition and may or may not experience ambiguous loss depending on their position within the family system. Trans* persons themselves may also experience ambiguous loss as a result of the dialectical tension of acceptance and rejection by family members. We apply resilience processes developed for work with persons facing ambiguous loss to support trans* persons and their families as they navigate gender transitions.

The presence of a trans* family member can challenge existing theoretical notions about the development of gender in families. Emerging knowledge about trans* identities consolidates around 5 primary challenges to existing theoretical notions of gender: (a) non‐dimorphic sex, (b) nonbinary gender, (c) the biological and social construction of gender, (d) gender identity development, and (e) family meaning making about transgender identity. These challenges structure an examination of hetero‐ and cisnormative expectations within family theory and help unpack long‐standing tensions between essentialist and social constructionist views of gender development. This can play out in family theory through a recognition of the tension between upholding and decentering cisnormativity within families. This article pinpoints locations where current family theories require reexamination and expansion to accurately conceptualize the flexibility and variability of families with trans* members.

AbstractEight nonheterosexual (i.e., bisexual, lesbian, bi/pansexual) mothers with trans* children between 6 and 11 years of age participated in semistructured interviews in which they discussed the intersections of their own sexual minority identities with their children's gender identities or expressions. Transfamily theory was utilized to understand how heteronormativity and cisnormativity operated in these families' lives. Initial lack of awareness among most of the mothers regarding trans* identities, as well as efforts by some to curb their children's gender expressions, paralleled previous reports on primarily heterosexual parents with trans* children. Having sexual minority identities and experience with LGBTQ communities was beneficial for some mothers but seemingly disadvantageous for others, in that some experienced blame for their children's trans* statuses, often due to the fact that these mothers identified as queer themselves. Findings reveal complexities in how participants were influenced by heteronormativity and cisnormativity and have implications for those looking to learn more about queer parents' experiences raising their trans* children.