{"id":4916,"date":"2010-09-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-changing-definition-of-family.html"},"modified":"2010-09-15T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:00:00","slug":"the-changing-definition-of-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-changing-definition-of-family.html","title":{"rendered":"The changing definition of “family”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study <\/a>indicates the meaning of the word is evolving: <\/p>\n

\nA majority of Americans now say their definition of family includes same-sex couples with children, as well as married gay and lesbian couples.<\/p>\n

At the same time, most Americans do not consider unmarried cohabiting couples, either heterosexual or same-sex, to be a family — unless they have children.<\/p>\n

The findings — part of a survey conducted this year as well as in 2003 and 2006 by Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University, Bloomington — are reported in a new book, “Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definitions of Family,” to be published on Wednesday by the Russell Sage Foundation. Since the surveys began, the proportion of people who reported having a gay friend or relative rose 10 percentage points, said Professor Powell, the book’s lead author.<\/p>\n

“This is not because more people are gay now than in 2003,” he said. “This indicates a more open social environment in which individuals now feel more comfortable discussing and acknowledging sexuality. Ironically with all the antigay initiatives, all of a sudden people were saying the word ‘gay’ out loud. Just the discussion about it made people more comfortable.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check out the rest at the link. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study indicates the meaning of the word is evolving: A majority of Americans now say their definition of family includes same-sex couples with children, as well as married gay and lesbian couples. At the same time, most Americans do not consider unmarried cohabiting couples, either heterosexual or same-sex, to be a family —…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nThe changing definition of "family" - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-changing-definition-of-family.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The changing definition of "family" - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new study indicates the meaning of the word is evolving: A majority of Americans now say their definition of family includes same-sex couples with children, as well as married gay and lesbian couples. At the same time, most Americans do not consider unmarried cohabiting couples, either heterosexual or same-sex, to be a family —…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-changing-definition-of-family.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-15T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jmcgee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The changing definition of \"family\" - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2010\/09\/the-changing-definition-of-family.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The changing definition of \"family\" - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"A new study indicates the meaning of the word is evolving: A majority of Americans now say their definition of family includes same-sex couples with children, as well as married gay and lesbian couples. 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