How to Celebrate Pride with Your Kids
Pride month is celebrated in June of each year in many countries across the world. In the US, this month was chosen to honour the events that took place at the Stonewall Rebellion in Manhattan in 1969. Here in Toronto, there is a very long history of the people from the LGBTQ+ community celebrating and defending their rights. Pride Toronto has a comprehensive timeline of significant events dating back to 1970.
In Canada, we have a history of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. While there have been changes and progress made over the years, there is still a long way to go and the community still experiences hate, discrimination, and violence on a day-to-day basis. It is therefore important for us to be starting the conversation with our kids about the LGBTQ+ community, their experiences, and about oppression, equity, and equal rights. Start the conversation now and continue it in the future.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when talking to your kids about Pride, gender, sexual identity and orientation, and equal rights. These conversations about identity and equal rights can extend into other topics as well and may start conversations around equal rights for other communities such as Black and Racialized communities.
Look within - Before beginning any conversation, do some self-reflection and self-education so you can start to understand your own biases, understanding, or lack of understanding about gender identity and sexual diversity. It’s important that we all learn about the history and ongoing discrimination that the LGBTQ+ community faces. It’s also important to use the right language and to have an understanding of how to explain these concepts in an age-appropriate way. If you don’t understand, research or ask. There are many organizations in the city that can help you along the way as you educate yourself. We’ve listed some of them below.
Don’t make assumptions - when talking to your kids about anything, don’t assume that you know how they or their friends identify in terms of their gender or sexual identity. Avoid using binary terms before knowing if they identify as binary or non-binary. Always be mindful that they or their friends may be exploring and questioning their sexual and gender identity and when we use binary terms or heteronormative language, this might silence them.
Get curious for your children - Even if your child doesn’t ask about pride or LGBTQ+ issues and identity, it doesn’t mean they don’t have questions. While they may not bring up the topic, they might be curious about what they see around them. Use what you see around you as an easy way to start conversations. This can normalize the conversations for you and for them, now and in the future. You can ask why are there so many colourful flags all around the neighbourhood? What do they mean, what do the colours represent? There are virtual events happening in the city and your kids might start getting curious about what this all means.
Don’t stop there - This month is a great place to start the conversation, but it’s everyone’s job to keep it going. One way we can do this is by making sure that our home environments normalize the existence of people from the LGBTQ+ community. You can do this through the TV shows you watch, the books you read, the music you listen to, the events you go to, the restaurants you frequent, etc. Make it part of your everyday existence and not just for one month a year.
There are many services and organizations that are LGBTQ+ community friendly or provide direct services to LGBTQ+ children, youth, adults, and families. We’ve listed some of them here, but we’d love to learn of more so please let us know if you have any to share!
Supporting Our Youth (SOY) - a program supporting 2SLGBTQ+ youth run by Sherbourne Health.
The 519 - The 519 is a local LGBTQ2S community centre in Toronto located near Church and Wellesley Streets. The 519 is committed to the health, happiness and full participation of the LGBTQ2S communities.
The Gegi Progect (Gegi - Gender Expression Gender Identity) - Great new resource for youth dealing with gender-based discrimination (and school staff, parents/guardians, etc)
Pride Toronto - a not-for-profit organization with a mission to bring people together to celebrate the history, courage, and diversity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Family Pride - June 20 - celebrating the strength and uniqueness of LGBTQ+ children and families. Online event.
Toronto Pflag - an organization dedicated to talking about and learning from the experiences of others about gender identity and sexual diversity. They provide support groups to parents of children who identify with the LGBTQ+ community as well as support groups to youth who belong to the LGBTQ+ community.
Friends of Ruby - providing counselling, housing support, and peer support to youth.
LGBT Youth Line - providing peer support by peers ages 16-29 who identify as 2SLGBTQ+. During covid they are doing text and chat support.
Books
Rain Boy, by Dylan Glynn - a story about acceptance and loving oneself. For ages 3- 5.
Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens, by Tanya Boteju - story about a high school student exploring and discovering her identity and her journey getting there.
Shout Out, a collaboration of work from artists and creators from around the world and edited by Toronto's Andrew Wheeler. A comic anthology full of LGBTQ heroes. For ages 13 - 17.
Local Organizations that are LGBTQ+ friendly
The Dress Code Project - a collaboration of salons where hair has no gender.
Out Adventures - one of the first providers of small group LGBT holidays, tours, cultural tours, and gay cruises.
The Lavender Menace - an LGBTQ+ bar at the corner of Gerrard and Jones - our neighbour!
The Pink Pages - a place to start when looking for LGBTQ+ friendly businesses and services.
Have we missed any? Let us know! We love to meet our local businesses and services ...
This post was written by wellbe’s social workers Claire Molloy and Meghan Menkes. If you’re in need of additional resources or assistance, you can book a virtual visit with our social workers here.