Thursday, June 1, 2023, is the 18th Annual LGBTQ Families Day and I hope you’ll all take part! Here’s the official press release, explaining why the event is so important this year as a celebration of family, community, and pride.
Thursday, June 1, 2023, is the 18th annual LGBTQ Families Day, a time to celebrate the many families in every state and almost every county of the U.S. that have LGBTQ people in them. The event aims to raise awareness of the diversity, joys, and challenges of all LGBTQ families—found, formed, and chosen—who exist throughout our society.
Anyone is welcome to participate by:
- Posting or sharing on any social media channel on June 1, 2023, in celebration and support of LGBTQ families. Include the hashtag #LGBTQFamiliesDay. (Use event images below or share your own!)
- Following the hashtag #LGBTQFamiliesDay throughout the day and sharing the stories, images, and thoughts from other participants.
- Celebrating in your community in whatever way uplifts the voices and experiences of LGBTQ families.
(Click images to show full size. You can then save them for sharing—or use an image or video of your own family or a message of support.)
LGBTQ Families Day was developed by the award-winning LGBTQ-parenting site Mombian and is sponsored by Family Equality, PFLAG National, GLAAD, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and COLAGE. Since 2006 (originally as Blogging for LGBTQ Families Day), the day has engaged parents across the LGBTQ spectrum, parents of LGBTQ children, LGBTQ individuals, children of LGBTQ parents, and non-LGBTQ family members and allies. The event is held at the start of June, between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, in order to honor all parents but also to highlight that not all families fit into the traditional structure of one mother and one father. Additionally, June is LGBTQ Pride Month.
“LGBTQ Families Day is a time to celebrate our pride and resilience,” said Dana Rudolph, founder and publisher of Mombian. “LGBTQ people and our families are facing increasingly hostile legislation and rhetoric, much of it targeting children. As we begin Pride Month, this is a day for us to elevate our stories and for allies to reaffirm their support.”
“For nearly two decades, Family Equality has had the pleasure of partnering with Mombian for LGBTQ Families Day, and this year, it’s particularly important for us to celebrate our joy,” said Stacey Stevenson, CEO of Family Equality. “This year we’re fighting over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ legislative attacks on our families and youth across the country, with concentrated attacks on our trans families and trans youth. LGBTQ Families Day reminds us that no matter what politicians in Florida or Texas or Oklahoma or Missouri might say, we exist and we won’t be erased. Let’s celebrate the joy of our families on LGBTQ Families Day and every day.”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, “At a time when LGBTQ families are under attack—from lawmakers restricting access to healthcare for transgender youth, and bans on discussing our own existence in the classroom—now more than ever we need to honor and celebrate queer families. Through the observation of LGBTQ Families Day, and the ongoing work of blogs like Mombian, we remind politicians that we are not threats or pawns, but instead a community deserving of dignity and respect.”
“As an organization founded in the unity of one mom and her gay son—families, allies, and LGBTQ+ people together—we understand the power that LGBTQ families have to soften hearts, change minds, and make a lasting difference,” said Brian K. Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National. “With our families under attack in every state across the country, the need to celebrate and elevate our families—to find joy and hope and celebrate our diverse community and the many ways we create family—is both powerful and necessary. We at PFLAG are honored to once again partner with Mombian on LGBTQ Families Day—especially this year, as PFLAG members and supporters celebrate our 50th anniversary.”
“With extremists escalating their attacks on LGBTQ+ people and families across the country, it is more important than ever to celebrate the joy and beauty of our diverse stories and to reaffirm that all our families deserve to be protected under the law,” said Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “This LGBTQ Families Day we’re proud to partner with Mombian to honor the many wonderful ways our families come to be and to redouble our commitment to ensuring LGBTQ families everywhere have the recognition and legal security they need.”
“This year, the need for celebrating LGBTQ Families Day is greater than ever in recent memory,” said Jordan Budd, Executive Director of COLAGE. “On this day, we celebrate our existence and our ability to persevere and overcome the irrational hatred and bigotry we are facing across the country. I am proud to be queerspawn, I am proud to be queer, and I am proud of our families. No law will ever be able to take that away from me or anyone else in our community. We have every reason to celebrate our families and our lives, and will continue to do so unapologetically. COLAGE is proud to join Mombian in uplifting our community on LGBTQ Families Day!”
About the Organizer and Sponsors
Mombian offers a daily mix of parenting, politics, and diversions for lesbian moms and other LGBTQ parents. It is a two-time winner of the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Blog (2012 and 2023). The site was founded in June 2005 by Dana Rudolph, a journalist and lesbian mom who also pens a regular “Mombian” column for several LGBTQ newspapers. In 2018, she received the Hostetter-Habib Family Award from Family Equality.
Family Equality advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality believes every LGBTQ+ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live. Learn more at familyequality.org.
PFLAG is an organization of LGBTQ+ people, parents, families, and allies who work together to create an equitable and inclusive world. We are hundreds of thousands of people and hundreds of chapters from coast to coast who are leading with love to support families, educate allies, and advocate for just, equitable, and inclusive legislation and policies. Since our founding in 1973, PFLAG works every day to ensure LGBTQ+ people everywhere are safe, celebrated, empowered and loved. Learn more, find support, donate, and take action at PFLAG.org.
GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.
Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation. Learn more at glad.org.
COLAGE unites people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer parents into a network of peers and supports them as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, self-confident, and just leaders in our collective communities.
