7 Inspiring LGBTQ+ Parents to Follow on Instagram
Once you’re a parent, you can probably find something relatable on almost any mom or dad’s Instagram grid. If you’ve got a kid, you’ll never not smile at chubby toddler cheeks or wacky holiday portrait outtakes, and you’ll always sneak a peek at a fellow parent’s advice on how to cope when your kid does something that tests your patience or takes you by surprise.
But there’s something to be said for seeing posts that reflect and represent family structures similar to your own. For LGTBQ+ parents (or those looking to start families), finding those familiar pictures in your social feed matters. It can help normalize your experience—so you don’t just feel seen as a parent, you feel seen as you. (Plus, who doesn’t like an opportunity to connect with other families that have things in common with your own?)
If your family doesn’t fit the mold of “traditional” (aka hetero, cis parents with two biological kids), you might have to dig a little deeper to find models that really resonate. The good news? There are plenty of fantastic LGTBQ+ parent and family influencers on Instagram. This list offers a great place to start. Follow away!
Fun fact: Krystian and Caitlin met through basketball when they were teenagers, but didn’t end up getting together until years later. Now, they’re moms to a preschooler and a toddler, and they share it all on Instagram—from sweet and messy mealtimes to breastfeeding on park benches. Krystian also isn’t afraid to get real about life in conservative Florida, including her feelings on the state’s controversial “don’t say gay” bill.
Dads Terrell and Jarius Joseph share plenty of sweet family photos with their two kids, and you’ll definitely relate when they start talking about the struggles of preschoolers dropping naps and the financial realities of raising children. But it’s their commentary on social justice issues that’ll make you feel really seen, including fielding feedback about how kids “need” a mother or how the family handles anti-gay comments at church.
3. @Vnessadoll
All those horrible questions about your family that you never know exactly how to respond to? ("Who’s the ‘real’ mom?”) Mom of two Vanessa and her partner get these inquiries too. She’s open about how she deals with the ickiness, plus how she’s handled coming out in a family whose religious and cultural backgrounds are very much at odds with her own beliefs.
4. @Jake_graf5
English actor and trans-rights activist Jake Graf documents all the day-to-day fun of raising a toddler and a baby (messy meals! family walks in the park!) plus the occasional glamour of the red carpet. The sweet posts dedicated to his wife Hannah, who is also trans, will really tug at your heart strings. He’s clearly crazy about her.
5. @Mchusbands
Parenting 4-year-old twin girls is no easy feat, but dads Erik and Adam are clearly having a blast. From showing their trips to the beach to sharing tips on how to style straight or curly hair like a supermodel, they’re soaking up all of the moments on their grid and on their popular YouTube and TikTok channels.
6. @Livingrosa
The everyday moments shared by Tara Rosa and her wife Mandi of life with their four girls look totally sweet, in a mundane sort of way. (Toddler in a laundry basket, anyone?) But it’s that sense of joyful ordinariness that serves to break down the stigmas of what “normal” families look like, making more space for every family.
7. @nycgaydad
Meet José Rolón, a single gay with three kids in Brooklyn Heights, New York. To pass time during the pandemic, he started playing around on TikTok making fun videos with his kiddos. Fast forward two years, and he’s a bonafide influencer, using social media to share everyday snapshots of life as a Latinx parent in the Big Apple and advocating for those in the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.
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