Looking for LGBTQ-inclusive videos for kids on sexuality, gender, and different types of families? AMAZE has you covered—and they’ve recently added some great new ones.
AMAZE, with a philosophy of “more info, less weird,” has been queer-inclusive since it began. Its videos cover a range of age-appropriate and LGBTQ-inclusive sex education topics for 10- to 14-year-olds, including both the “mechanics” of puberty, pregnancy, contraception, safe sex, and more, but also emotional aspects such as consent and peer pressure. There are videos specifically on gender identity and sexual orientation, but LGBTQ people appear in other videos, too. A light touch of humor and fun animation keep the videos engaging even as they convey advice and information from sex-education experts at Advocates for Youth, Answer, and Youth Tech Health.
In the past few months, they’ve added a number of videos, including ones on “Sexual Orientation: A Spectrum Of Attraction,” “Sex Assigned at Birth and Gender Identity: What Is The Difference?” and the video below on “How Do Queer Couples Have Babies?”
Overall, I like it, especially the use of the term “queer,” which feels more inclusive than “gay and lesbian” or even “same-sex.” (And “LGBTQ couples” typically isn’t right, as few couples cover all five letters.) I also like that they acknowledge that some queer people become parents when they partner with someone who has children from a previous relationship, and that they explain reciprocal IVF (the method my spouse and I used; though see more on this below).
I have just a few quibbles: First, I wish they gave some recognition to queer parents who aren’t couples. We may be single parents, too, or polyamorous—or even if we’re not polyamorous, may be parenting in partnership with a birth parent, gamete donor, or other people totaling more than two. Still, I think children are most likely to see and have questions about queer couples, so I don’t fault AMAZE too much for focusing on them in what is a very short video. (I hope they cover some of these other family types in other videos, though.)
AMAZE also uses the term “co-maternity” for what I’ve most commonly heard called “reciprocal IVF.” I like the term “co-maternity”; I just wish they’d mentioned “reciprocal IVF,” too, since it’s used fairly frequently for this procedure. (Also, if one of the parents is a transgender man, “co-maternity” may not be appropriate.) Similarly, they use the term “artificial insemination,” although “assisted insemination” seems to be the more common term lately. They do mention that it may also be called “assisted insemination”—but I wish they’d prioritized that term, with “artificial insemination” as the alternate. Still, there’s a whole lot of useful knowledge in this four-minute video, giving parents a good jumping-off point for further discussion and addressing the above points, should they desire.
Other slightly older videos from AMAZE include ones on “Different Kinds of Families” (which even includes chosen families), “Coming Out LGBTQ+,” “Being Female, Male, Transgender or Fluid,” “How To Be A LGBTQIA+ Ally,” and many others on LGBTQ topics, as well as ones on a range of issues such as puberty, consent, healthy relationships, and much more. Additionally, their video “Pregnancy and Reproduction Explained” gives this explanation without gendering who produces egg and sperm, making it useful for folks of various gender identities. (The animated egg has lipstick, however, making it somewhat traditionally female, although it is never identified as such.) (For gender-inclusive explanations in book form, see Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth’s What Makes a Baby
While their main site is geared towards kids from 10 to 14 years old, they also have an AMAZE Jr. section for kids from four to nine years old and their parents. And just a few weeks ago, they launched a new podcast for parents, “Become an Askable Parent with AMAZE“—short, actionable episodes “to help families talk openly, honestly, and less awkwardly about sex, health, relationships + growing up.”
I’ve written about AMAZE before, in a sponsored post for them back in 2017. This current post isn’t sponsored; I’m just delighted to see that they’re continuing to put out inclusive, accurate, fun, and age-appropriate videos on these important topics.
(I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that provides a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.)