“Life is already hard enough”: Lesbian and gay adoptive parents’ experiences and concerns after the 2016 presidential election.

Abstract

The 2016 U.S. presidential election was an especially difficult election for many Americans, particularly individuals with one or more marginalized identities. This qualitative study explores the experiences of sexual minority adoptive parents (n = 50), many of whom were members of multiracial families. Parents completed an online survey 2–3 weeks after the November 2016 presidential election, and 2.5 months later (1–2 weeks after the January 2017 inauguration). Through an integrated minority stress and intersectional theory lens, we examined participants’ emotional responses to this stressful, ambiguous political event, their perceptions of how immediate and extended family relationships shifted during the election and its aftermath, and how they coped with stress, including relationship stress, exacerbated by the election and the political climate. Most participants reported experiencing negative emotions such as fear/ anxiety, anger, and sadness upon learning the outcome of the election. Many participants reported that the election impacted family dynamics, including conflict with extended family, partners, or children. Adoptive sexual minority parents coped in a variety of ways, including by pursuing activism, connecting with others, and disengaging from thinking about the election. These findings have implications for howmental health care providers may support adoptive sexual minority parent families to cope with stressful political events.