# data[].attributes.headline
Laws that reward or punish certain families?

# data[].attributes.subject
Laws that reward or punish certain families?

# data[].attributes.headline
When someone don't get it.... (quote from the article) "For me, if it’s not sparking joy, then leave it. If people who are part of your nominal family are not making you happy, and they’re complicating your life, and bringing you anxiety and stress and sadness, drop them. Go somewhere else, because there are people out there who you can create a family with."

# data[].attributes.subject
When someone don't get it.... (quote from the article) "For me, if it’s not sparking joy, then leave it. If people who are part of your nominal family are not making you happy, and they’re complicating your life, and bringing you anxiety and stress and sadness, drop them. Go somewhere else, because there are people out there who you can create a family with."

# data[].attributes.headline
I think to be born, means to be anything and everything 

# data[].attributes.subject
I think to be born, means to be anything and everything 

# data[].attributes.body
I think what Rupi is trying to say, is that we have potential to truly be anything -- but we are restrained by societal boundaries that may challenge us to do so. This leads us thinking we are only born with a weakness, or we are only born with a strength...

I really like to connect this with Lorde's "define and power" because once we are born, we are given the true to choice to define

# data[].attributes.headline
What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable. (Lorde p1)

# data[].attributes.subject
What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable. (Lorde p1)

# data[].attributes.headline
to deconstruct taken for granted ideas and build more solidarity among marginalized people (and awareness among those more privileged)

# data[].attributes.subject
to deconstruct taken for granted ideas and build more solidarity among marginalized people (and awareness among those more privileged)

# data[].attributes.headline
I heard about this show that looks amazing to think about intersectionality, it's about refugees, and love, and search for home

# data[].attributes.subject
I heard about this show that looks amazing to think about intersectionality, it's about refugees, and love, and search for home

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.electriccompanytheatre.com/show/anywhere-but-here/
It’s 2020 at the US/Mexico border in Trump’s America.

In 1979, a family drives back towards Chile from Canada. With past, present, and future encircling their journey, this profoundly poetic story is about the universal quest for home – in whatever form that takes.

A spellbinding blend of dark comedy and magical realism, Anywhere But Here is a vibrant celebration of Latinx theatre, with music and raps by Shad, that chronicles the many paths, real and imagined, we take to discover the truth —  the truth about who we are, and where we may be headed.

# data[].attributes.body
Poem by Rupi Kaur in the book “milk and honey": 
“if you were born with 
the weakness to fall
you were born with  
the strength to rise”

# data[].attributes.headline
In what ways do our implemented societal structures alter the family experience?

# data[].attributes.subject
In what ways do our implemented societal structures alter the family experience?

# data[].attributes.headline
How does intersectionality aid in the understanding of the battles/everyday occurrences presented for non-nuclear families? 

# data[].attributes.subject
How does intersectionality aid in the understanding of the battles/everyday occurrences presented for non-nuclear families? 

# data[].attributes.headline
What intersections of queer parenting, effect the way they they approach schooling for their children?

# data[].attributes.subject
What intersections of queer parenting, effect the way they they approach schooling for their children?

# data[].attributes.body
Can you relate it to one of the 3 types of intersectionality?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(iStock)

We all know how stressful back-to-school season can be. In addition to acquiring supplies, dealing with school clothing drama, and meeting teachers, there's the task of helping nervous or reluctant kids manage their feelings about a new school year and all the changes ahead.

But members of LGBTQ+ families, whether they are children or adults, face particular challenges when entering the educational system. That means back-to-school time is especially loaded and especially stressful.

As a visibly queer and transgender parent myself, when we began to look into schooling for our 4-year-old, I found myself overcome with anxiety. Parents in same-sex partnerships often have to deal with outdated forms and administrations that assume all children have a mother and a father. Transgender children may be concerned about bathroom access and whether they'll get to use their correct name and pronouns in the classroom. And LGBTQ+ families are often concerned about bullying and the fact that even if the rules are on your side, other parents may still be against your family.

I've found that interacting with school administrators has included a lot of emails to explain my family's names, pronouns and relationships, and I've had to staple extra sheets to documents when our information doesn't fit on the provided forms, making me feel like an outsider before the year even begins.

My family is not alone.

After moving from Oakland, Calif., to Pittsburgh, Andrea Cipriani, a lesbian mother, had to cross out the word "father" and write in "mother" on her son's kindergarten enrollment paperwork. The paperwork issues make her "question how much the district accepts same-sex parents and makes me wonder what issues will come up in the future," she said. And while she doesn't want to assume the school won't be welcoming, she is worried about that possibility.

Robyn Park, a marriage and family therapist who specializes in adoption issues and LGBTQ+ families at the Center for Connection in Pasadena, Calif., says the added stressors weigh on families. They "experience greater vigilance" in trying to make sure their children are safe, she said. "LGBTQ+ parents ... oftentimes have to work harder than other parents to ensure safe and effective learning environments for their children."

So what's a parent to do? "We were just very mindful from the beginning," said Amber Leventry, a queer and non-binary writer and advocate and staff writer for the website Scary Mommy. Leventry, who uses they/them pronouns and has three children, one of whom is transgender, emphasized the importance of surrounding their family with potential allies within school and daycare systems. Entering the schools as a volunteer, and an advocate for all kids, has helped, Leventry said. "I don't want my family to be used as the example; it's just too much emotional labor. But since you're not doing it, let me come in as an advocate."

Leventry believes that doing this work has helped protect their kids from carrying the anxiety themselves. They also acknowledged that not every LGBTQ+ parent is up for that level of advocacy: "I understand that I'm good at it, I have the energy for it."

Park, the family therapist, said the key to helping children calm big emotions is to talk about it or, as she says, "name it to tame it... By helping children name different emotions ... you are able to help tame them." She also added that parents should "remember safety is nonnegotiable. You have every right to speak up and to be heard."

Of course, parents aren't the only ones responsible for making the school year a success for kids and families. Schools, administrators, and the teachers themselves, also have a lot of work to do. As more and more LGBTQ+ families enter the school system, it's in everyone's best interests for those schools to be prepared. "My whole thing is you might be accepting, but how inclusive are you? Throw a rainbow or trans flag in the pencil cup," Leventry says. "I remember the first time I saw that upside-down pink triangle in my school. Kids are looking for that, and if they don't see it, they think something is wrong with them."

Pam Strong, an equity and inclusive education resource teacher with the Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ontario, thinks that schools are often too gendered and heteronormative and that those norms, among others such as whiteness, are often "reinforced in our curriculum, the books we read, and the conversations that we have or don't have." She believes it is important for schools not to wait until they have a student or a family identify as LGBTQ+ before they prepare for them.

Such preparation requires teachers to make an ongoing commitment to learning and unlearning what they think they know about identity.

Strong suggests having educators walk through the school assuming a particular identity to see what problems they encounter. Her district also uses safe space stickers, and she advocates, much like Leventry, for putting up rainbow flags or other symbols that show kids they are welcome. "Comprehensive safe school policies are incredibly important and can help address bullying and harassment issues in school," she says.

With steps like these, hopefully families like mine will feel more welcome and safe as they begin the school year.

David Minerva Clover is a queer and trans writer, covering everything from parenting to dinosaurs. He lives in Detroit with his partner, his child and an embarrassing amount of animals.

How straight parents can raise kids to be allies during Pride Month, and beyond

Teaching my daughter that love is love

How parents can help dismantle trans and homophobic school climates

AD

AD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Perspective | For queer families, back-to-school time is especially fraught

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We all know how stressful back-to-school season can be. In addition to acquiring supplies, dealing with school clothing drama, and meeting teachers, there's the task of helping nervous or reluctant kids manage their feelings about a new school year and all the changes ahead.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why do you think intersectionality is important for analyzing  family forms?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why do you think intersectionality is important for analyzing  family forms?

# data[].attributes.headline
How has the treatment of Indigenous families in Canada both, changed over time? and in what ways has it remained the same?

# data[].attributes.subject
How has the treatment of Indigenous families in Canada both, changed over time? and in what ways has it remained the same?

# data[].attributes.body
Using an intersectional approach, think of exampled and analyze how Indigenous communities have resisted the Western narrative of family.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has awarded more than $2 billion in compensation to First Nations children and their families who were separated by a chronically underfunded welfare system.

In a ruling this morning the tribunal says the federal government "wilfully and recklessly" discriminated against Indigenous children living on reserves by not properly funding child and family services.

The result was a mass removal of Indigenous children from their parents for years in a system Indigenous leaders say had more First Nations kids living in foster care than at the height of the residential-schools era.

The tribunal is awarding the maximum damages it can - $40,000 - for each child taken away for lack of proper services or who was later returned to his or family, for each parent or grandparent who had a child taken, for each child who experienced abuse in foster care, and for each child who was taken into foster care because proper medical supports were not made available to their families.

Story continues below advertisement

The Assembly of First Nations says as many as 54,000 children could be eligible for the compensation.
WATCH: Saskatoon employer handbook aims to boost Indigenous employment
Saskatoon employer handbook aims to boost Indigenous employment

The decision comes more than three-and-a-half years after the tribunal ruled there was clear discrimination by the federal government, which did not provide anywhere near the funding non-Indigenous children received for child welfare services.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
indigenous children separated from families

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Indigenous families given $2B payout for children separated from parents by government

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has awarded more than $2 billion in compensation to First Nations children and their families who were separated by a chronically underfunded welfare system. In a ruling this morning the tribunal says the federal government "wilfully and recklessly" discriminated against Indigenous children living on reserves by not properly funding child and family services.

# data[].attributes.headline
Pick 1 of the 6 Families interviews in the Guardian article, and relate the ideas from Few-Demo and Lorde.

# data[].attributes.subject
Pick 1 of the 6 Families interviews in the Guardian article, and relate the ideas from Few-Demo and Lorde.

# data[].attributes.body
How do they relate to the ideas in the article?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Charlie Arrowood, 32, is a nonbinary person who parents two kids with their wife of 13 years (Long Island)

I happen to be fairly close with my birth family. We have a fairly small family, and we just are pretty comfortable with each other. So, I didn't stray far from that in making my own family as I grew up.

I think that a lot of trans people really end up searching elsewhere for that family, because they don't have a situation like that. So I'm fortunate. We have our moments, in large part around the gender thing, but they're pretty OK about it.

I've been with my wife now for 13 years, so once we got together, I had support, and I was able to sort myself out a little bit more. When I decided that I wanted to have top surgery, she was on board. I didn't necessarily lean on my birth family as much for support and permission and all that.

When I came out as gay to my mom in middle school, she got upset and she said: I'm disappointed, I thought I would have grandchildren. And I said: well, if you don't think I'm going to have children, you don't know me at all.

My kids are three and five, and my parents use my birth name, and they use she and her for me, and my kids will correct them. My son's teacher pulled me aside at pick-up one day, and said: I know you don't do Father's Day, how would you like me to handle this? So, they made me a little Parent's Day card, and it was adorable.

The kids call me "abba", which is Hebrew for dad. Before I transitioned, my son called me "eema", which is Hebrew for mom. And then once I started transitioning, I was uncomfortable with that, so we switched it.

For me, if it's not sparking joy, then leave it. If people who are part of your nominal family are not making you happy, and they're complicating your life, and bringing you anxiety and stress and sadness, drop them. Go somewhere else, because there are people out there who you can create a family with.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The new American family: trans, gender queer, nonbinary, two-spirit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Charlie Arrowood, 32, is a nonbinary person who parents two kids with their wife of 13 years (Long Island) I happen to be fairly close with my birth family. We have a fairly small family, and we just are pretty comfortable with each other.