LGBTQ+ Families: Celebrating Pride Month Together
Whether you are an LGBTQ+ family or not, if you’re looking for ways you and your children can celebrate Pride Month, as well as helping your child to learn about the LGBTQ+ community, then read on. We’ve got plenty of family suggestions to celebrate.
Why We Celebrate Pride Month
Pride Month is a time for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies to come together and celebrate love, diversity, and equality for all. Pride Month is an opportunity for you to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s also a chance to help your children to learn about love and acceptance, and to create an opportunity to talk about inclusivity and equality with your family and friends.
Events across the world focus on both raising awareness of the influence and impact of the LGBTQ+ community, and the inequalities and difficulties that some people still face. It’s a wonderful occasion to celebrate inclusivity with your children.
As Pride celebrations last for a month, there’s always something for everyone to get involved with, and many of these events and activities would be fun for your family to participate in.
Four Ways to Celebrate Pride Month as a Family
Celebrating Pride as a family is the perfect time to discuss core values of inclusivity, visibility, and representation with your children. It is also a great excuse to dress up, rock some glitter and rainbow face-paint, give back, and spend quality time together.
1. Read Stories Together
It’s important for children and LGBTQ+ families to see themselves represented in books. If you normally enjoy reading a story with your child at bedtime, why not switch to some of these LGBTQ+ books for children during Pride Month? We’ve suggested three lovely stories for younger children below, and for books for older children and teens, check out these book recommendations from Penguin.
- My Magical Family by Lotte Jeffs and Sharon Davey - a little girl with two mummies explores the different ways all families are magical.
- My Daddies by Gareth Peter and Garry Parsons - a beautiful picture book to show children that families come in all shapes and sizes, inspired by the writer’s experience of adopting with his partner.
- Forever Star by Gareth Peter and Judi Abbot - join Tim and Tim who set off into space to search for a child they can love and raise together.
2. Get Crafting
If your child loves getting stuck into arts and crafts, then celebrate Pride Month by making your crafting projects with a Pride theme. Crafting together is a fun way for your child to learn about Pride Month and enjoy spending quality time together.
Since artist Gilbert Baker created the LGBTQ+ flag in the 1970s, the rainbow with all its colours, has been an emblem for the community. The range of colours aims to represent diversity and each colour showcases a different element of the community. So, what better way to celebrate then, than by whipping up some rainbow-themed crafts?
We love these craft ideas, which feature something for everyone. When you’ve finished creating your masterpieces, why not display them around your home and make your very own art gallery?
3. Join a Parade
Many cities organise Pride parades during the month of June and other months and attending a parade as a family can be a fun, uplifting, and educational experience for your child. Most of these parades (particularly the spectacular annual parade in central London), include a zone along the route dedicated to families, so children of all ages can enjoy the celebrations.
Everyone is encouraged to dress up in rainbow colours and face-paint, and join in with the fun. If you don’t live near a big city, or you’re concerned about busy crowds, check to see if there are any fun, smaller events happening closer to home.
4. Visit Family-Focused Pride Events
Many cities not only organise Pride parades, but also other Pride events, including those aimed toward children and families. Museums and art galleries are a great place to start looking for them, as well as libraries. Research your local museum exhibitions, art shows, or performances near you during Pride Month that highlight LGBTQ+ voices and experiences.
If there aren’t any family focused events close to where you live, why not create your very own Pride party? Clear out a room and make it a dancefloor, offer rainbow face-painting, create a Pride playlist, and serve up some rainbow-coloured food. This can be a lovely idea to show inclusivity and highlight the importance of Pride with your children.
Pride Month is a wonderful opportunity for LGBTQ+ families to celebrate love, diversity, and equality. By engaging in these family activities, you can not only show your support for the LGBTQ+ community but also help your children to learn about the importance of acceptance and inclusion.
