If you’re looking for ideas on how to celebrate pride with kids, local Mesa mom Kira shares her family’s story of pride and how her four kiddos (ages 2-13) have been raised knowing love as only inclusive through her guncles.
As we kick off Pride month, if you are looking for resources to share with your children to engage in conversation about what Pride is and why we celebrate it, we have compiled a list of books and ideas to support you at the bottom of this post as well.
XO,
Kira
“Love is love. It doesn’t have a gender, a color, a perfect description, or type.”
I spoke those words in my Woman of Honor speech after my cousin (and best friend) married his now husband. My kids were flower girls. The whole day will always remain a core memory for our family because it was truly a celebration of the most wonderful couple.
And now as we anxiously await for them to have their first baby, I find myself reflecting on how beautiful it is that our kids will never know a life where love isn’t inclusive.
Love to them won’t have to fit inside rigid parameters. The Guncles, as we call them, aren’t different from their other aunts and uncles. They are their family, godfathers, support system, and role models. Love just gets to be love to these lucky kids.
As our girls have grown older, of course they have been exposed to opinions or beliefs that differ from their world view.
They ask questions.
We try to provide context.
And they continued to ask “why.”
Why do some people think this kind of love is different?
Why was this kind of love viewed as negative by some?
We always try to come back to the idea that no matter what, the world is better with less hate and more love. And further, we can love whoever our heart chooses.
Being inclusive goes beyond just accepting people and things that are the same as you. And though there is obviously a great deal of complexity behind these simple responses, it really is the foundation for all of our conversations about the beauty of diversity.
Resources:
- Phoenix celebrates Pride in October (because no one wants to be at an outdoor event in AZ in June!)- this event is very family friendly and would be a great example of community support and a great way to celebrate Pride with Kids
- Phoenix Pride – LGBTQ+ Pride
- Additionally, in April, the Rainbows Festival is held in Phoenix. This is a free street fair that is also kid friendly.
- Books
- The World Needs More Purple People – a book about embracing the things that bring us together as humans
- Love Makes a Family – highlights that the only thing that makes a family is love!
- The Circles All Around Us – helps start the conversation about how to expand our worlds with kindness and inclusivity
- Digital
