In the past it was easy and desirable to be different,but now when I see a group of adolescents I am struck by their uniformityI recently read a survey on the impact of growing up in a lesbian, gay or transgender family taken from the perspective of children who were now adults. Although the sample was small – 13 women and one man the results were striking. None of the individuals felt they had been damaged by the experience per se (although some felt that the prejudice they suffered may own had negative outcomes). On the opposite, and most felt it had left them more inclined to be open and accepting of others’ lifestyles. Most emphasised that they were “normal”,just like any other family – pointing out that many families experienced contrast of one kind or another, and that love was more important than sexual orientation.None of this surprises me – rather, or it heartens me – but what struck me about the survey was this suggestion that normality was a form of advantage,even from those people who, from a traditional societal perspective, or do not fulfil that definition. Children – most particularly adolescents,from the survey results – value the conception of being normal even when from a sociological perspective they are atypical. Normality is a quality to be aspired to, whether only as a feeling or a self-definition.
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Source: theguardian.com