For July 4th, I’m highlighting seven children’s books about LGBTQ Americans who advanced civil rights, fought for our country’s unity, and evocatively conveyed the strengths, flaws, and diversity of our country in words and music.
I can think of no better way to mark July 4th than by watching a new film about the author of “America the Beautiful,” Katharine Lee Bates, an educator and social reformer who saw both our country’s beauty and its flaws—and whose loving partner of 25 years was another woman.
Pride is a word that contains multitudes. This month, I am thinking about how the various aspects of Pride and pride come together for me as an LGBTQ parent at this moment in history.
What do kids call their LGBTQ parents? Many affirming, creative, and wonderful names! Here are some of the hundreds of names, plus the stories behind them, from the Mombian LGBTQ Parental Names Project, which I’ve been running since 2011. Have a look and add your own!
Three new memoirs each offer different looks at queer parenthood, giving us nuanced explorations of selves, society, family, and what we pass on to the next generation. Add them to your summer reading list.
I had the pleasure of speaking recently with the AllPaths podcast about how my now-spouse and I started our family via reciprocal IVF in the early aughts, why I founded Mombian shortly afterwards and how it’s grown, the state of LGBTQ+ family building today, LGBTQ Families Day, and more. I hope you’ll have a listen!
Being with other LGBTQ+ families can be an invaluable experience for both LGBTQ+ parents and our kids. That’s why GWK Academy is hosting The Big Apple Family Takeover, October 10-11, 2026, a joyful weekend in New York City for LGBTQ+ families to connect, play, and be fully themselves.
The U.S. House is set to vote today on a bill that would require schools to censor any mention of trans and nonbinary identities, and to out trans and nonbinary students to parents. And the FCC is considering warning labels for “transgender and gender non-binary programming” on TV. Take action now against these moves.
Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT). Do you know why May 17 was chosen—and what other two key civil rights events happened on the same date?
An old New Yorker cartoon recirculates every year at this time, in which a child with two moms explains to the teacher where to put the apostrophe in “Mothers’ Day.” But really, queer moms exist in the singular and the plural. Punctuation of the holiday, like so much else about queer parenthood, has many right answers.
