What Parenting With Pride Means to 10 LGBTQ+ Parents
May 20, 2022
Being a parent is arguably the toughest—and most rewarding—gig on the planet. Raising small humans is not for the faint of heart; it can fill your days with intense joy and immense challenges. LGBTQ+ parents know this truth all too well. In addition to the normal trials and tribulations all families face, they’re subject to outside stigma and judgment. But they choose to rise above the hate for the sake of love—and share their stories to inspire, educate and empower others. Here, 10 LGBTQ+ parents reveal how they’re parenting with pride.
“Parenting with pride means treating all who may have misconceived ideas of our family with patience and grace.” - Johnny Lee, @johnnyleeny
“Parenting with pride means raising our daughter to have love for and to take pride in herself and her family.” - Melissa Connelly, @missyhalle
“Parenting with pride means showing our kids that some families look different, but all are bound by love!” - Vanessa Alvarez-Crandall, @vnessadoll
“For us, parenting with pride means being proud of who we are and of all the other amazing diverse families out there. It means giving much needed visibility to trans parents and hope to the next generation of trans people and young folk that they can have families and be parents too. And finally, it means never shying away from telling our baby exactly how she came into this world and how hard we fought to bring her to us!" - Jake and Hannah Graf, @jake_graf5 and @hannahw253
“Parenting with pride is loving beyond limits, beyond genders, beyond stereotypes and ‘norms.’ It is loving your children for who they are, as they are. It is showing up as a non-traditional family with confidence and joy and love to show others what unconditional love looks like in all its forms and colors. This world needs a whole lot more love, and it is our responsibility as parents to be the example.” - Genavieve Jaffe, @genajaffe
“Parenting with pride allows us to shine our true colors, and give us a chance to celebrate our family.” - Daniel and Dennis Marzoa, @daniel.marzoa and @dmarzoa
“To us, parenting with pride means loving our son under zero conditions and raising him to know that, in our home, he is free to be unapologetically himself.” - Kaila Strickland, @Kd_strick
“Standing up for each other and other families like ours no matter what. We have promised to always remain true to ourselves and to our children.” - Krystian Gabrielle, @krystian_gabrielle
“Parenting with pride for me is raising kind children who love and accept everyone for who they are. I think it’s so important to teach our future generations that all families can look different! Representation matters, and I’ll always strive to normalize our two-mom family.” - Chloe Millar, @thelittleislandyogi
“Allowing our kids to be proud of their individuality gives our dynamic family the groundwork to live life authentically. Being a transracial LGBTQ+ family also gives us many opportunities to parent with pride and show that love always triumphs over hate.” - Jonathan and Thomas West, @daddyandpapa
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