Post of the Week: “Stereotypically Dysfunctional”

I’m taking this week’s pick from the great new blog The Gay Dad Project, founded by Amie, Erin, and Jared, who were each born to opposite-sex parents and had their dads come out to them later in life. In these days of Modern Family and The New Normal, it’s easy to forget that not all LGBT families are LGBT families from the start—and that some people have both LGBT and non-LGBT parents.

In “Stereotypically Dysfunctional,” Amie writes about her motivation for starting the blog:

 I write and share with the hopes of generating a larger discussion, one that reaches an audience who may have experienced something similar, someone who can identify with what I have to say. I also write to reach out to people who may feel the need to live a double life because they cannot be themselves.

I write and share so that no other gay dads marry straight moms because they feel they have to. I write and share so that young gay kids will have the courage to come out and not feel trapped inside a closet. I write and share for all kids of complicated families.

I hope you’ll go read her whole post. I think many of us may share some of her reasons for writing, even if our particular blog focus is slightly different.

Amie, Erin, and Jared are also soliciting stories for their blog. They write, “We want to hear from children of a gay parent, from gay parents themselves, from straight spouses who were married to a gay parent, from friends, family members, and colleagues who are connected in any way to the unique family situation where one parent is gay.” They also hope to create a book, “a collaboration of writings from various children who were born to one gay parent and one straight parent,” and a related film.

If you’re looking for more information from the perspective of teens and adults with LGBTQ parents, try: Let’s Get This Straight: The Ultimate Handbook for Youth with LGBTQ Parents, by Tina Fakhrid-Deen, for teens with LGBTQ parents, and Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is, by Abigail Garner, for older teens and adults. Both Fakhrid-Deen and Garner had parents who came out to them after being in opposite-sex relationships.

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