“My family is my queer community!” begins this delightful book, filled with photos of real queer people and families. We see not only parents and children at home and away, but also queer couples, Pride marches, drag queens, and more. They represent a range of gender identities and expressions, family structures, physical abilities, ages, and more.
The simple text highlights both the characteristics of the people (“My family is old, and young…”) and what they are doing (“My family smiles bright…”), with an occasional nod to social justice (“my family continues to fight”—as we see a person carrying a sign reading “Trans Rights Now”).
While there are now many LGBTQ-inclusive picture books about families, only a few include photos, as opposed to illustrations. And while there are many beautiful and moving illustrations out there, there is a different power in photos of real people—people like young readers might have in their own families, broadly defined, or might see in their communities.
Yes, there are already a few terrific LGBTQ-inclusive books for young children that use photos (see Related Items below), and I like them all, but this one expands beyond just parents and children to show a wider slice of queer community.
This book is a self-published project of creative producer Maggie Owsley, and it’s a little volume that I think many families will enjoy.
