6/12/2022 Pride Month Round Up

Six years ago today, a gunman opened fire on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. His reign of terror lasted for hours as he purposefully targeted men celebrating Latin Night. The picture above is a memorial to the 49 lives he extinguished.

We all remember the grimness of the morning after, watching the death toll climb on the news, hearing the words “hate crime” repeated like a litany on every outlet, frantically sending texts to friends who worked at Pulse or frequented it to see if they were okay. We were all in disbelief that something like this could happen, & happen in Orlando, of all places. Orlando, home of the Zebra Coalition. Orlando, home of Disney’s Gay Days. Orlando, home of the Parliament House & openly LGBTQIA+ politicians & activists like Carlos Guillermo Smith & Patty Sheehan.

Yet happen it did. With it, a sad, painful wake-up call: the gay community was no longer safe. Perhaps their safety had always been a gossamer-thin illusion. Perhaps safety was a dream, rather than reality.

In the years since Pulse & the gory fallout, this sentiment has been proven time & again with legislation meant to disenfranchise. Under the guise of religious freedom & parent choice, books have been banned, textbooks culled, curriculum slashed. Protocols were formed to make teachers mandatory reporters of student sexual orientation. School alliance clubs meant to uplift & support LGBTQIA+ students & provide resources were suddenly stripped of funding & told not to attend marches, not to participate in the Day of Silence, not to pass out rainbow flags & decals during visibility days. Even stalwart Disney, the largest employer in the state with a reputation for an equal-opportunity workplace, diversity, & inclusion, was reprimanded & dismantled by criticizing the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Politicians declared war on youth using gender-neutral bathrooms. Teachers were told not to inquire after pronouns. Even this week, Governor DeSantis contemplates summoning Child Protective Services on parents who bring their children to drag shows.

Pride Month isn’t about Old Navy ads & companies adorning their logos with rainbows. It isn’t about showing how “woke” you are, it isn’t about unicorns & new Starbucks drinks, & it certainly isn’t about ‘indoctrinating’ children.

Pride Month, quite simply, is about remembering the thousands of individuals who shaped our country, not just with their inventions, their contributions to sports & science & fashion & music, their amazing achievements & artistic visions – truly, we celebrate their courage. In this world, it takes courage to be openly gay. It takes courage to live your authentic truth. It takes courage to try to change the world for the better, knowing you subject yourself to death threats, internet warriors & derision simply for who you love. It takes courage to take a side, even when it is clear which side is right.

When you celebrate Pride Month loud & proud, inevitably, you’ll offend someone. You’ll upset a family member, get unfriended on Facebook by a coworker, subject yourself to eye rolls & lectures by haters, & for some, even put your job in jeopardy.

But I have news for you.

People are gay. Children are gay. Nearly every creature in the animal kingdom has documented occurrences of homosexuality. Gay isn’t something you choose to be & it certainly isn’t something you’ll become simply by reading a book. It is completely natural.

So this week, we are recognizing some FABULOUS books that pioneer LGBTQIA+ representation in the world of children’s literature. Shout out to Kami at the Maitland Public Library for helping me browse through the collection & make selections.

Do you have to read these to your kiddo? Nope. Some of you will skip this, may even stop reading my blog entirely. Some of you didn’t even get this far as soon as you read the first sentence. But some of you may have a gay member of your family, or your kid has a gay teacher, or you just want them to be more open-minded & realistic about the world, rather than polarized & judgmental. For those folks, read on & enjoy – & thank you, for doing your part.

Picture Book 1

Title: And Tango Makes Three

Authors: Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell

Illustrator: Henry Cole

Recommended for: Grades 3-6

Basic plot: Roy & Silo are two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo. They are best friends & completely inseparable. The only thing they seem unable to do, however, is start a family. That’s where a creative zookeeper steps in.

Why I love it: Not only is this a true story, but it is completely heartwarming. I’ve heard negative comments before about children with two moms or two dads. It’s almost as if it is preferred for them to be homeless & perpetually kept in the foster care system, rather than go to a loving home. Gay men & women dream of parenthood, just like anyone else. They have all the tools necessary to be outstanding parents, but occasionally, they need help with the biological aspect. Seeing this dream realized, in the most adorable way, is incredibly validating.

Graphic Novel 1

Title: Nimona

Author & Illustrator: Noelle Stevenson

Recommended for: Grades 6-12

Basic plot: [taken from the Amazon blurb]:

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

Why I love it: I think what I loved most about this is the subtlety. It is so unpretentious that it really does rely on the reader to make sense of it. Only the reader can decide for themselves if it is a romance between a superhero & a supervillain, or a reckoning. If it is a parable of friendship, or of monstrosity. If it is an allegory for government overreach & hypocrisy, or just local corruption.

It takes a wicked talent for an author to make a point without expressly stating it, & beyond all the dragons & the gore, there was a real theme that tugged at my heartstrings – that, above all, we want to love & be loved in return, even through mistakes & jaded lenses. It is possible, even likely, that Ballister Blackheart & Ambrosius Goldenloin are old flames. Yet rather than focusing on their sexual identity, as is so often the case, we got to explore personalities, memories, flashbacks, the sum of their parts. This book is layered like fine moussaka – the longing, the regret, the remorse, the wanting to be not-alone, the little shards of happiness & contentment – truly explores what it means to be human.

Reference Text 1

Title: Rainbow Revolutionaries: Fifty LGBTQ+ People Who Made History

Author: Sarah Prager

Illustrator: Sarah Papworth

Recommended for: Grades 6+

Basic plot: These Sarahs collaborate to make a compulsively readable compendium with lush illustrations. Each page explores a different person who advanced the world. It is short & pithy, which is expertly designed to keep a kiddo’s focus & make a point quickly. It is a great introduction to figures like Harvey Milk & Alan Turing, among others.

Why I love it: It is informative, as I’ve already learned about individuals I had never heard of. Plus, the note to the reader at the beginning is very stirring, sharing some of Prager’s own experiences as a lesbian youth feeling alone in the world.

*Some of the figures mentioned are trans & the author briefly mentions their transition in simple yet unmistakable terms*

Thanks for tuning in! Keep the pages turning until we meet again. Oh, & remember - we all have One Pulse.

Love,

Sash