Thank you to everyone who participated in LGBTQ Families Day yesterday, starting Pride Month with a burst of joy and reminding us of the love within and across our families! Here’s a recap with highlights from the event, including some high-profile folks who took part.
First, participants included folks across the LGBTQ spectrum, our children, our parents, other family members, and allies, which delights me to no end. You gave us a look into your lives and showed your strength, resilience, and love, even in the face of obstacles. This day began 17 years ago as a grassroots day of blogging, and it is the grassroots posts and tweets that still thrill me the most. There were photos of new babies, photos of queer parents and even grandparents from decades ago, sweet sibling photos, pet photos, rainbow-decked photos from Prides past, and much more.
At the same time, part of the reason for this event is to raise the visibility of our families, so it is also great to see more high-profile folks taking part in the day. Notable participants this year included Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Pose), Braunwyn Windham-Burke (Real Housewives of Orange County), Kat Cunning (The Deuce; Trinkets), David Hernandez (American Idol), and Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider. On the political side were Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, former White House Deputy Communications Director Pili Tobar, and the Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus (plus a few individual members thereof). Thanks to all of them for taking the time to participate—and in some cases, share photos of their own families. Again, though, most participants were just regular folks, who remain the heart of our community.
LGBTQ Families Day was also mentioned on the TODAY Show during a segment with GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis about her new kids’ book, All Moms. Dawn Ennis wrote about the event in detail at Forbes, and Andy Humm gave it a mention on his Gay USA show. Thanks to them for their coverage.
Additionally, Massachusetts families joined folks from GLAD, Family Equality, and COLAGE to stand in the rain at the Massachusetts State House in support of the Massachusetts Parentage Act, an important piece of legislation for LGBTQ families and others, using LGBTQ Families Day as part of their messaging. Our rainbows are so powerful, they come out before the rain ends!
A great big thanks to sponsors Family Equality, PFLAG National, GLAAD, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and COLAGE for reaching out to their supporters and influencers about the event and helping with graphics, press release, and much more than I could do on my own.
You can check out all the participants via the #LGBTQFamiliesDay hashtag on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I hope we ride this wave of LGBTQ joy (as GLAAD put it in a recent tweet) through Pride and beyond and that it helps us face the challenges ahead.