Talking With Kids About LGBTQ+ Pride Month

by Christina W June 16, 2022

June is Pride Month!

Colorful flags supporting members of the LGBTQ+ community and exciting events around the city may spark questions from your children. Before you can approach the topic of Pride month with your kids, it's important that you understand it yourself.

Every year during the month of June, people around the world commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and aim to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ legislation, identity, history and community. The Stonewall Riots happened on June 28th, 1969 when police in New York City raided the Stonewall Inn, a well-known gay bar in Greenwich Village. This raid led to nearly a week of violent protests and is now often considered to be the event that sparked the modern fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States.

It’s important to go into these conversations with your children knowing the facts, but you don’t have to provide your kids with every historical detail of the LGBTQ+ fight or the Stonewall Uprising in order for them to understand the significance of Pride month.

A simple way to start the conversation about Stonewall and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights is to retell your children the story in a way with which they can empathize. Rob Sanders' Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution. is deeply and creatively narrated by the Stonewall Inn itself, and is a perfect way to introduce children to the history of Pride month and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Watch a read-along version of this empowering story below.

Beyond the historical significance, it's important to talk to your children about the more painful parts of LGBTQ+ history. Discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community is still present in our society, and children are aware of this. It can be challenging to know how to speak with your children about how they can be a part of the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights, but there are so many resources available to help start the conversation and keep it going.

The Stonewall Book Award, sponsored by the American Library Association's Rainbow Round Table, has been honoring books that celebrate LGBTQ+ since 1971.

We carry many of the Stonewall Book Award winners in our stores, and any we don't carry we will be more than happy to order for you. Just send us an email at admin@childsplaytoysandbooks.com.

Queer Kid Stuff

The YouTube Channel Queer Kid Stuff, hosted by LGBTQ+ activist Lindsay Amer, is directed at kids and focuses on issues within the LGBTQ+ community. Amer has posted more than 115 videos discussing LGBTQ+ and social justice in a family friendly way that is easy to understand for children. They also have a newsletter, and just launched a podcast called Rainbow Parenting - a queer- and gender-affirming parenting podcast that talks all about the intimidating first steps of affirming queer, trans, and nonbinary kids.

Woke Read Alouds

Woke Read Alouds from Woke Kindergarten feature diverse readers reading books about diversity. Woke Kindergarten is a global early childhood resource center and creative portal that supports children, families, educators, and organizations in their commitment to pro-black, queer, and trans liberation. Woke Kindergarten has tons of great videos, poems, workshops, and so much more that can be used to help teach our children about the world we live in.

Family Equality's The Neighborhood: A Virtual Hub for LGBTQ+ Families

Family Equality’s mission is to advance legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change.

This online community offers LGBTQ+ families and those who wish to form them opportunities to connect with one another, learn, grow, and have fun. The Neighborhood has a large library of family activities, a calendar of events, and a group on Facebook with nearly 1,000 members.

Rainbow Families

Rainbow Families is a small community based organization in DC that provides resources, support services, and education for LGBTQ+ families and those who wish to form them. On their website, you can find a calendar of events, playgroups and meetups, and support groups, as well as a wide range of resources and other great tools for families in the LGBTQ+ community.

Are you looking for books or toys that represent the LGBTQ+ experience and history? Child's Play can help with that!

Ana On The Edge

by A.J. Sass

A heartfelt coming of age story about a nonbinary character navigating a binary world. Twelve-year-old Ana-Marie Jin, the reigning US Juvenile figure skating champion, is not a frilly dress kind of kid. So, when Ana learns that next season's program will be princess themed, doubt forms fast.

Still, Ana tries to focus on training and putting together a stellar routine worthy of national success. Once Ana meets Hayden, a transgender boy new to the rink, thoughts about the princess program and gender identity begin to take center stage.

Ages 8-12

Julián Is A Mermaid

by Jessica Love

While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julian notices three women spectacularly dressed up.

Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julian gets home, daydreaming of the magic he's seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress.

But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julian sees himself?

Ages 4-8

Too Bright To See

by Kyle Lukoff

It’s the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug’s best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn’t particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl.

Besides, there’s something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug’s eerie old house in rural Vermont…and maybe haunting Bug in particular. As Bug begins to untangle the mystery of who this ghost is and what they’re trying to say, an altogether different truth comes to light—Bug is transgender.

Ages 10+