Page 13 - LGBT Families

School Assignments

Young people from LGBT families have come to expect a variety of reactions from
peers at school. Reactions from teachers are sometimes harder to deal with. Often,
LGBT parents will talk with teachers and school administrators to ensure they are
aware of the family’s dynamic. The goal is to prevent problems and misunder-
standings, but these conversations cannot avoid all uncomfortable situations. For
example, school assignments such as family trees or making a Father’s Day cards
can leave a child or teen feeling upset and misunderstood. “I actually got in a
ght with a kindergarten substitute teacher who insisted that I must have a dad,
because everyone has a dad,” remembers Jamie, who was raised by her lesbian
mother. “We were making Father’s Day cards, and I was adamant that I did not
have a dad. She didn’t believe me.”

Gabriela Herman, The Kids, 2017. https://thekids.gabrielaherman.com.

becoming an advocate for LGBT rights. He also believes that the
negativity he and his family endured made his mothers better par-
ents. “I feel that because society has generally forced them at
some point to stop and really consider who and what they are,
that they often have an added depth or wisdom. This is an invalu-
able asset to any would- be parent,” Gillespie writes. Gillespie
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believes that ultimately the wisdom his parents developed, and
the unconditional love they provided him, far outweighed any dis-
approval of others.

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