Internalized homophobia cannot be discussed without situating the phenomenon within the backdrop of the legal institutions that perpetuate anti-gay agendas.

The stigma surrounding queer parenting begins in learning spaces such as educational institutions– elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools. The latter (post-secondary schools) of which will be discussed here. Jessica McCutcheon and Melanie Ann Morrison explore the viewpoints Canadian students (from the University of Saskatchewan) hold about gay parents and their eligibility for adopting a child. In this study, the authors found that “gay and lesbian couples were rated significantly less favourably than heterosexual couples when asked about outcomes for the adoptive child” (McCutcheon and Morrison 2015, 138). Interestingly, for lesbian parents, students were more receptive when the partners emulated stereotypically female and male gender stereotypes (138). Similar to how religious fundamentalism plays a significant and influential role in other aspects of society– culture, laws, policies and institutions, religious fundamentalism according to Curme et al., influences how university students view matters of queer adoption (2020, 365).

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Apart from university students, the general public holds opinions such as the “perceived threats that gay male parents might molest their child or somehow ‘make them gay’” (Curme et al. 2020, 367). Another stereotype impacting queer parents seeking to adopt is the belief that queer households are “emotionally unstable” and generally unsafe compared to heterosexual households (Weiner and Zinner 2015, 328). To answer the question posed in the beginning, the child’s best interest narrative is heavily rooted in heteronormative ideals (Curme et al. 2020, 366). Anything that divulges from that ideal, such as queerness, is positioned as not in the child’s best interest.