June is Pride Month, and it’s the time of year we celebrate our family and other LGBTQ families across the country and the world. Pride is really about recognizing that our family is no different than any other, and we are proud of who we are! You can also celebrate Pride Month with your family by remembering how fortunate we are to live in a time and place where this is truly a celebration. This visibility and acceptance is important for people watching from other countries and places where the LGBTQ community is still struggling.
Sophia shows her pride with a rainbow temporary tattoo that looks appropriately festive for the occasion.Celebrate Pride Month With Your Family
Some people think Pride Month is all about parades and parties. Those are fun too, but there are ways to celebrate Pride Month with your family that help promote inclusivity and education as well. Here are a few we enjoy in our family.
Read LGBTQ-friendly books.
Go to the library, hop online, or check out your favorite local bookstore for books that you and your children will love. Since they were babies, we have loved finding books that Ava and Sophia can enjoy that celebrate inclusivity and diversity.
A great way to celebrate the diversity of families is to read stories about LGBTQ families with our kids.Whether or not you have seen the movie, Love, Simon, you’ll want to share the novel the movie is based on with your family. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Simon is able to experience a love story that is typically reserved for heterosexual youth in his world. With some adult sexual themes, this book is best for older teens.
My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer follows June as she learns how to handle the bigotry and hatred thrown at her family when her mom marries her girlfriend. This book is appropriate for younger teens and tweens.
A couple favorites for younger children are King and King, where a prince finds and marries his one true love. And Tango Makes Three is the true story of two male penguins who adopt an egg, hatch it together as a couple, and raise their baby penguin Tango to adulthood. We really loved It’s Okay to be Different, with bright, colorful illustrations and easily understandable concepts. There are many more heartwarming stories that help tell our stories in relatable ways.
Volunteer for organizations that support LGBTQ families.
Check out groups in your area that support all families. Popular national groups like PFLAG – Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays – provide support and resources for families, allies and people who identify as LGBTQ. In addition, they lobby and advocate for social change in policy and laws that support people of all genders and sexual-orientations.
Other organizations may include inclusive churches or GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) groups at local secondary schools or colleges. Involving your children, particularly teens, in these groups can also help them form their own sense of identity. Talking with others who are part of LGBTQ families helps.
Shop with organizations that give back to the LGBTQ community.
The Rainbow Flag is the international symbol for LGBTQ Pride, and we wear it proudly.You’ll notice a lot of places trying to capitalize off of Pride Month. If you’re picking up a cute t-shirt for your teen or some rainbow-themed paraphernalia for you or your spouse, make sure you are supporting an organization that will give a percentage back to humanitarian causes that support LGBTQ families. Converse is a good example. The company is donating 100% of the proceeds from its rainbow-themed Pride Month shoes and other apparel to their LGTBQ partner organizations. One we also support is the It Gets Better Project which supports LGTBQ youth.
Tell your story.
We have a platform to tell our story through our blog. Whether or not you’re writing your memoirs, sharing on social media, or have a family blog, you can still tell your story. Tell your children how you fell in love with your partner or spouse. Share the way you became a family. Your story should instill a sense of pride in your family. This month is truly about all of us and how love conquers all, a message that we focus on through our work and play each and every day.
Living our lives with pride and love day in and day out is important to our family. During this time of celebration for the country, there are many ways to celebrate Pride Month with your family.
How do you celebrate your family’s pride?
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