An intersectional study examining how migrant parents navigate care, parenting and belonging in a social and political climate increasingly shaped by anti-migrant, racist, anti-gender, homophobic and transphobic discourses.
Project Title: Care and Belonging among Migrant and Racialised LGBTQ+ Parents in the UK
University of Greenwich Researcher: Dr Olumide Popoola
Funder: The Open University
Project Duration: 2026 May 15 - 2027 November 15
External Project Website: https://societal-challenges.open.ac.uk/stories/care-and-belonging-among-migrant-and-racialised-lgbtq-parents-in-the-uk/83
Project Overview
New research is shedding light on the experiences of migrant and racialised LGBTQ+ parents in the UK, whose voices have long been overlooked in both public debate and academic research. Drawing on an intersectional approach, this study examines how these parents navigate care, parenting and belonging in a social and political climate increasingly shaped by anti-migrant, racist, anti-gender, homophobic and transphobic discourses. It focuses on their interactions with schools, health services, welfare institutions and local communities, asking how these encounters shape their sense of inclusion, exclusion and recognition. At the heart of the project is Professor Umut Erel’s research on migrant parenting and belonging, alongside Dr Ece Kocabıçak’s work on the links between racism and anti-gender politics as well as Dr Olumide Popoola's writing on Black and brown LGBTQ+ communities (Reynolds, Erel and O’Neill 2025; Erel 2010, 2011; Kocabıçak 2023, 2026; Popoola 2017, 2024).
Objectives
The study seeks to examine parenting as both care work and cultural work: how parents nurture children’s confidence, help them resist discrimination, and support them in claiming rights and belonging in a multi-ethnic and sexually diverse society.
Collaborators
Professor Umut Erel (Principle Investigator), The Open University
Dr Ece Kocabıçak, The Open University
Dr Olumide Popoola, University of Greenwich
More information
This project is currently seeking participants. If you are willing to take part in a 60–90 minute research interview, either face-to-face or online, please get in touch with Dr Olumide Popoola (email: O.Popoola@greenwich.ac.uk).
This research has received a favourable ethics review from The Open University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC reference: 2026-1234-2).
Please visit the project webpage for more information.