We’re full of stories today: personal stories of forming families, reflections from grown children of LGBTQ parents, and the political stories impacting LGBTQ parents and our children. Have a read of what I haven’t covered elsewhere.
In a major win for equality, the U.K. government has announced that female same-sex couples will no longer have to pay for expensive rounds of assisted insemination to prove infertility before accessing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The country’s leading LGBTQ advocacy organization has clarified that this will also apply to trans people.
Did you know there are now more than five dozen LGBTQ-inclusive board books for the very youngest children? Here are some of the ones published this year–and you can always see my database for more!
How can LGBTQ families best protect themselves after the Dobbs decision? Polly Crozier, senior staff attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), and Julie Gonen, federal policy director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), shared their thoughts with me.
Today is International Nonbinary People’s Day, so here are more than a dozen new (and upcoming) children’s books from 2022 that celebrate nonbinary kids!
PBS Kids’ live-action show The Odd Squad recently aired an episode in which the child protagonists must save the world from an evil villain—and step in to ensure that his plans don’t interrupt the wedding of two women!
Gavin Grimm successfully fought his high school in federal court for the right to use the boy’s bathroom like the boy he is. To write a picture book about his experience, he teamed up with Kyle Lukoff, a two-time Stonewall Award winner, Newbery honoree, former children’s librarian, and also a trans man. I can think of no better pairing. Together with illustrator J Yang, they’ve given us a must-read book for readers of all identities.
“What Should a Queer Children’s Book Do?” asks Jessica Winter today in the New Yorker. It’s a good question, which she carefully explores through the history of LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books and the ongoing attacks on them. The piece echoes much of what I’ve said about the genre over the years. Here are a few additional thoughts and further readings, if the topic intrigues you.
A new picture book about food fermentation evangelist Sandor Katz is the queer biography I didn’t know I needed—full of flavor, inspiration, and community.
The latest episode of the award-winning Story Pirates podcast features a story about a transgender prince who decides to live as his true self. The story, originally by a 10-year-old girl, was brought to life by an all trans/nonbinary cast. Listen here.
