When Mothers Learn a Daughter Is a Lesbian

This manuscript is based on in-depth interviews of 3 groups of mothers who learned that their daughters were lesbian. The first group consisted of 10 mothers interviewed in 1990. A second group of 16 mothers were interviewed in 2000-2001. The third group, also interviewed in 2000-2001, consisted of 14 mothers whose daughters initially disclosed as lesbians, but later identified as transgender. Conducted 10 to 11 years apart, these studies offer a comparison of the initial reactions of mothers prior to and following a time of marked changes in attitudes towards homosexuality. Findings demonstrated that while the majority of mothers interviewed in 1990 experienced disclosure as a crisis, a greater number of mothers in 2000-2001 were more receptive to learning that a daughter was a lesbian.