Looking for gay men with children enrolled in any QLD Public Primary School

The first Australian study of its kind is seeking gay men with children enrolled in Queensland public primary schools to share their views on Mother’s Day activities.

Are you a gay man (of any relationship makeup) with a child enrolled in any Queensland public primary school?

A Griffith University Research Project wants to hear your views about the Mother’s Day activities you’ve seen happening at your child’s school.

Over the past 50 years, Australian families have changed from traditional models of biologically-based nuclear families.

Now we make up a constellation of diverse family models for a variety of reasons.

This includes blended families, families with one parent, families with more than two parents, same-sex parented families and more.

Changes in what makes up a family have helped shift policies, attitudes and trends around gender equity, marriage equality, paid parental leave and more.

Research shows that diverse families experience challenges when dealing with their children’s schools.

Mother’s Day activities can present particular challenges for diverse families

Research student Reb Madsen is looking into how all sorts of modern families perceive school-based Mother’s Day activities in Queensland state school settings – and she needs your help.

Her study is a passion project with personal resonance for Reb.

She was raised in a diverse family and is a mother of a diverse family herself, with three young children on the Gold Coast.

“As a child of a diverse family, I would just get filled with anxiety around who to make a Father’s Day card for,” Reb told QNews.

“Thirty-five years later, I’m queer, I have three kids, and I’m living that all again from a parents’ perspective.”

Reb stepped back into the classroom, changing careers to education, and saw that for some children these days can be very traumatic.

This is not just for children in same sex families, but children who have lost parents or otherwise don’t fit in a nuclear family model.

Are you a gay parent willing to be interviewed?

Politicians and school leaders can use the insights from this study to consider how these activities are, or are not, serving whole-school communities.

“I’ve done interviews with eight participants so far, and I’m trying to get as diverse a representation as possible,” Reb said.

“I currently have a very diverse mix, but I couldn’t get my hands on a gay man.

“I really want to include a gay man in the research. If I could get two even better.”

Please note that the biological mother doesn’t have to be present in the children’s lives for you to participate.

The study aims to share the experiences of parents and carers of a range of different types of families.

The data benefits not only rainbow families, but a wide range of modern families.

Participation will involve an interview in which you will share your perceptions and experiences of the Mother’s Day activities that you’ve experienced at your child’s school.

Interviews will take place via online video, and your identity will be de-identified.

If you are a gay man with children currently enrolled in Prep to Year 6 in any Queensland state school, you’re eligible to participate.

To find out more and to express your interest in participating, contact Reb by sending her a message via Facebook or IG @mothersdaystudy.