TCU researcher looking for gay men and lesbians to participate in study

When Jacque Borel was expecting his first grandchild four years ago, his partner Scott wasn’t sure what role he should play as a gay step-grandfather.

“He had never had children, and this was all so new to him,” Borel said.

But the tides turned as soon as the baby was born.

“At first he was just going to stand back in the corner because he didn’t feel like he was expected to be there,” Borel said. “But then my daughter-in-law said: ‘Scott, come on in here. You’re his grandpa, too.’ That changed the entire focus, and now the kid actually loves him more than me I think.”

This couple is part of a growing number of gay grandparents who have virtually been ignored by researchers — until now.

Texas Christian University professor David Jenkins is hoping to change that. He just received a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation to study the family dynamics involved with gay step-grandparents.

“I wanted to know more about how gay and lesbian people experience family and some of the struggles and some of the victories,” Jenkins said. “More and more gay people are becoming parents. And as we are aging, we are just going to have a whole slew of us gay grandparents out there.”

Jenkins has already studied LGBT family dynamics through the eyes of other relationship roles, but says that the gay step-grandparent brings its own challenges.

“They run the risk of being rejected for just who they are. That doesn’t happen for heterosexual grandparents because they are like their grandchildren,” he said.

That’s a major reason why he wanted to study them in the first place.

“It helps us better understand our experiences, it helps therapists, it helps educators,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins says it’s not surprising research hasn’t been done on this before.

“Studying gay and lesbian families is a risky move because not all universities welcome that kind of project and if you are going for tenure you don’t want to do risky research and you stick to safer topics,” he said.

But Jenkins feels this work is important in documenting a shift away from traditional family models in U.S. culture.

“I want classrooms that study families to have books that talk about grandparents to talk about gay and lesbian grandparents. Or at least mention us and not overlook us. I think it is important that we kinda put us on the map,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins is looking for gay and lesbian step-grandparents to interview for his research. The process will take about an hour. Contact him at 817-808-3676 or D.Jenkins@tcu.edu.





This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 27, 2008.