Happy 4th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families!

Today is the 4th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day. Now, most people don't know about this. Heck, even most LGBT families don't know about this day of acknowledgment!

I found out about it from Mombian, a lesbian mom's blog.

This particular day is of special significance to me and my gay family. The start of June is also when we'll be celebrating our second Kid-iversary, marking the second anniversary of Kid coming into our family, as well as me and Craig's 15th anniversary together.

Of course, Craig and I can't get married in NC, and Kid can't belong to both of us in NC. (Well, for that second one he sort of can, but second-parent adoption isn't clean and easy here like it is in some states.)

That's why days like this - and in fact any day for gay visibility or anything any LGBT person or ally does to simply be open and out - are so important. Things are a lot better than they used to be - I never knew there could be gay couples with kids when I was growing up - but we've still got a long way to go.

So, this one is for all of the gay parents and their kids out there. This is for all of our families of choice, whoever they are.

This is for my Craig and Kid, and Auntie Angela and Uncle A.R.

This is for Craig's parents (Grams and Paw Paw) and his sister, her husband, and their son and daughter, who from the beginning welcomed me as their in-law/uncle and Kid as their grandson/nephew/cousin. We just spent a week at the beach with them, and our gay family agenda included go-carts, movies (Wolverine, Hannah Montana, Night at the Museum, Star Trek (again)), kite flying, digging for buried treasure, building sand castles, playing video games, holding tiger cubs, jumping waves, playing billiards, wading in the ocean, and anything else that would tire the kids out.

This is for my bleeding-heart liberal family who always joked that the only thing that would make Craig better than just being gay would be if he were black and Jewish.

This is for all of the Pride celebrations and family groups that help showcase the amazing normality of our families.

This is for all people of goodwill who see the truth of our families with their hearts, despite the vitriol and prejudice that gets spread about us.

I will always remember and treasure the day Kid came home from kindergarten, talking about how he learned in class that some families have one dad, some have a dad and mom and stepdad, some have two dads, etc. His teacher in Wake Forest, within spitting distance of a virulently antigay religious school, went out of her way to teach him about the diversity of families that included him.

This is for education and information overcoming ignorance. This is for honesty dismissing falsehoods. This is for love and connection.

Happy Blogging for LGBT Families Day, All!