LESBIANS, GAY MEN AND THEIR FAMILIES: COMMON CLINICAL ISSUES·AN ARTICLE CRITIQUE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF DIVERSITY IN FAMILY LIFESTYLES
Brown (1989) dealt specifically in this article with her purposes for writing the article. The first purpose of the article stated by Brown (1989) was "to reduce the lack of preparedness in the clinician working with lesbian and gay male patients" (p. 66). With respect to this purpose of the article, Brown's (1989) efforts were directed at the professional psychiatric and psychological communities. The second purpose of the article stated by Brown (1989) was to "address the impact of homophobia on a family system that contains a lesbian or gay male adult member" (p. 66). With respect to this purpose of the article, Brown's (1989) efforts were directed both at (1) the professional psychiatric and psychological communities and (2) a broader audience that encompasses both (a) families containing lesbian and gay male adult members and (b) the general public.
In this article, Brown (1989) addressed the topic of lesbian and gay men as adult members of families within the contexts of (1) "coming out to families" and (2) relations both within families and between families and the external environment "after they're out" (p. 71). With respect to "coming out to families," Brown (1989) addresses issues that (1) affect the decision-making processes of lesbian and gay male adult family members with respect to the acknowledgment of their sexual orientation to other members of their families, as well as issues that (2) must be confronted by their families once such acknowledgment has been made by a lesbian or gay male adult family member. Within the latter context, Brown (1989) observed that "coming out" to their families may well cause their families to be placed in positions where they must decide whether to "come out," so to speak to their friends and neighbors
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