Expert to discuss sexual minority families
Elisabeth Sheff wrote 'The Polyamorists Next Door'
Elisabeth Sheff will detail family issues that affect same-sex, bisexual, consensually non-monogamous, kinky and transgender people and their loved ones.
(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Nov. 3, 2016) An author will discuss issues affecting people in sexual and gender minorities and their families during a free presentation at California Lutheran University.
“An Evening with the Author: Elisabeth Sheff” will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in Ullman Commons 100/101 on the Thousand Oaks campus.
The landscape of American marriage and relationships is changing, and a variety of family systems are developing and becoming more common. Sheff will detail family issues that affect same-sex, bisexual, consensually non-monogamous, kinky and transgender people and their loved ones. Subjects will include coming out, changes in laws and social acceptance, interaction with institutions and dealing with stigma. She will discuss research showing that children from these families vary little from their peers in heterosexual families.
Sheff is one of a handful of global experts on polyamory, the practice of non-monogamous sexual relationships with the consent of all, and the foremost worldwide expert on children in polyamorous families. She wrote the 2014 book “The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families” and edited the 2015 collection “Stories from the Polycule: Real Life in Polyamorous Families.”
She has published more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in books pertaining to gender, families and sexual minorities. She is a public speaker, relationship consultant and expert witness. Sheff has given scores of interviews to a variety of media including Radio Slovenia, National Public Radio, The Sunday Times, Newsweek, CNN and National Geographic Television. She blogs for Psychology Today and How Do I Date? She also serves as the CEO of Sheff Consulting Group, a think tank specializing in unconventional and underserved populations. She has taught at Emory University, Georgia State University and the University of Montana.
Cal Lutheran’s Pearson Library, Center for Equality and Justice, and departments of sociology and criminal justice are sponsoring the event.
Ullman Commons is located at 101 Memorial Parkway.
For more information, contact Yvonne Wilber at 805-493-3902 or ywilber@callutheran.edu.