Conference article

‘Do you have family?’ is a question that normatively refers to a specific constellation of a partner of the opposite sex and biological children- even if a majority of people do not live up to the white; middle-class ideal of a family in Sweden today. How is the concept of ‘family’ filled with meaning by lgbt-people and queers in different ages? Lgbt-persons life conditions and strategies to create viable lives are historically and culturally situated; and so is the meaning and content of the concept of ‘family’. The position of lgbt-people’s rights and possibilities as citizens has changed radically over the last 30 years; in the Western world; along with larger structural changes of the organizing and meaning of family; intimacy and close relations (Bech & Bech-Gernsheim 2002; Budgeon & Roseneil 2004). In this paper I will look into how elder lesbian and bisexual women and queer youth in Sweden relate to the concept of family. How is the term ‘family’ filled with meaning and how is it related to friends; partners/ expartners and lgtbq-community in negotiating; reproducing and contesting normative concepts of what family is? How is feminist and queer critique of the conventional family; as well as the resistance-cultural environments; resources in the processes of producing other visions and practices?

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