I’ve just updated my list of dozens of books, videos, and articles by people with LGBTQ parents—these have been among the most useful resources for helping me think about how to talk with my own son about our family structure.
A must-read for this President’s Day is writer and parent Jennifer Finney Boylan’s piece at Medium, “I’m all done explaining my humanity.” She’s talking about being transgender—but it’s a piece everyone should read, trans and cis alike.
A couple of recent articles look at the perspectives of children with LGBTQ parents—and I’ve pulled together a plethora of further resources.
One of the best pieces I’ve read this week is by a man who explains “How homophobia turned me against my gay mother.” Spoiler alert: He turned back—and in doing so, offers some very useful advice for all of us LGBTQ parents.
Think kids will be “confused” or harmed by learning that same-sex couples can marry? Think again. This delightful video from The Fine Bros “Kids React” series shows children ages 5 to 13 responding to viral videos of marriage proposals of same-sex couples — and clearly, most of them are not only okay with it, but excited for the couples. They give me hope for the future.
Congratulations to all of the same-sex couples in Minnesota and Rhode Island who may choose to marry starting today. And on ABC Family’s The Fosters, fictional moms-of-five Stef and Lena are getting married on this coming Monday’s episode. I thought I’d mark the happy occasions by posting a revised version of a column I did several years ago, about planning a wedding if you already have kids.
From the “how could I have missed this” files: While studies show [and they do] that children with same-sex parents are just as well-adjusted as those with different-sex parents, they might lead us to overlook the full experience of adopted children, wrote Frank Ligtvoet in the New York Times a few weeks back. Ligtvoet, a gay dad with two adopted children, reminds us that “motherless parenting is a misnomer.”
Sometimes, a piece of writing just makes me think. Chase Strangio’s “Making Room for More Impossible Decisions: Reflections on Being a Trans Parent” at HuffPo is one of them. Strangio gives much food for thought to parents across the LGBT spectrum and beyond, and calling for a greater understanding among parents of all types.
Australian filmmaker Maya Newell gave one of the best responses I’ve ever seen to the mistaken assertion that all kids need a mother and a father.
My son is turning nine soon, and it frightens me. Nine is perilously close to ten, first of the double digits, rubbing shoulders with that phantasm of every parent’s nightmares, puberty. Nine seems like the last hurrah of young childhood before it gradually starts to give way to the moods, interests, and concerns of an older phase of life.
