Flourishing Families: Promoting Public Health and Reproductive Justice for All by Protecting and Supporting LGBTQ+ Families in Policy and Practice

Family—which we define broadly as relationships of care over time that may or may not involve genetic ties, sexual intimacy, reproduction, or childrearing and may include individuals of varying ages within or across generations—has always been a central structure supporting queer well-being throughout history, whether recognized or not. 13 LGBTQ+ people embrace family so fundamentally as to claim the Sister Sledge song,“We Are Family” as a cultural anthem. LGBTQ+ families are often referred to as “chosen families,” evoking the ways in which LGBTQ+ communities create families, which transcend heteronormative, biologically based family structures.