Showing titles in Parenting & Families

What happens when two women commit to serving the Catholic Church as nuns taking vows of chastity, but fall passionately in love? They defy the Church's rules against same-sex relationships and blaze a bold trail for a joyous life together at a time when LGBTQ people could be killed for being gay and same-sex marriage was decades in the future.

A practical and insightful consideration of what it means to be sexual as a trans, queer person.

With trustworthy information and an accessible, straightforward plan, Parenting with Pride provides actionable yet profound tools and mental shifts to help parents support their teens and themselves and to be a catalyst for change in their communities.

Drawing on the author's experience as a mother walking with and learning from her own transgender child, as well as working with hundreds of families across the country doing the same, this book helps parents navigate the emotional, spiritual, and logistical landscape of raising a gender-diverse child.

Life for young Henry Adams was lonely, mundane, and just plain sad. His only friend, a unicorn stuffie named Merlin, was always nearby and ready anytime Henry needed a hug. By day, Henry was the owner of Turn the Page bookstore but at night he was a lonely boy who dreamt of having a Daddy of his own. Mitchell Blackthorn moved back home after years away living a grand life in Chicago when his mother fell and broke her hip. When another fall led to a dementia diagnosis, Mitchell turned to his best friend Jensen for support and guidance. What he didn’t expect to find was love.

When divorce moves young R/B Mertz away from rural Pennsylvania and their abusive father, Mertz's life is torn in two. Mertz's mom and new stepdad dive headfirst into conservative Catholic homeschooling, entrenching themselves in a world dominated by saints, prayers, and having as many babies as possible, just as Mertz is starting to realize they might be queer. Trying to stave off the inevitable, Mertz later enrolls in a conservative Catholic college in Ohio.

Alison Wearing led a largely carefree childhood until she learned, at age 12, that her family was a little more complex than she had realized. Sure her father had always been unusual compared to the other dads in the neighborhood: he loved to bake croissants, wear silk pajamas around the house, and skip down the street singing songs from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. But when he came out of the closet in the 1970s, when homosexuality was still a cardinal taboo, it was a shock to everyone in the quiet community of Peterborough, Ontario - especially to his wife and three children.

When Christian singer and speaker Staci Frenes learned her teenage daughter was gay, she found her dreams for the future - along with her lifelong faith - collapsing around her. Coming to terms with a new reality was a challenge - and an invitation - to make room for many things along the way: the inevitability of uncertainty, hope in the midst of loss, awkward and tough conversations, an expanding faith, and a greater understanding of how people are more the same than different.

YOU ARE ENOUGH EXACTLY AS YOU ARE. ​ From the time we’re born, a litany of do’s and don’ts are placed on us by our families, our communities, and society. We're required to fit into boxes based on our race, gender, sexuality, and other parts of our identities...

Queerphobic and transphobic messaging can arrive from nearly any direction, and once queer and trans people are exposed to the fear, disgust and judgement people have for otherness, it can easily fester into internalized oppression. In a society that promotes the narrative of self-loathing queers, loving and accepting ourselves can be hard to imagine, let alone achieve.

No matter who we are or where we come from, we all play on the same playground. There are certain collective societal messages we hear growing up that we either consciously or subconsciously believe. As a result, we develop certain belief systems from which we operate our lives. Chris Tompkins’ Raising LGBTQ Allies sheds light on the deeper, multi-faceted layers of homophobia. It opens up a conversation with parents around the possibility they may have an LGBTQ child and shows how heteronormativity can be harmful if not addressed clearly and early.

As long as there have been humans, there have been LGBTQI+ people. From an 18th century gentleman’s servant known as 'Princess Seraphina', to a lesbian punk rocker in Malaysia, challenging her country’s homophobic laws today; queer life always finds a way. We join Queer Eye’s Tan France to take a look at the lives, past and present, of those who have proudly defied rigid concepts of normality.

Marriage in the Bible: What Do the Texts Say? is an honest engagement with the relevant passages in the two primary Testaments of the Christian Bible. Rather than making the Bible confirm a specific stance on marriage, the author invites her readers to be honest about what these biblical stories, laws, commands, and sayings meant in their original contexts.

What do you do when, just before Thanksgiving at your mother's, your 14-year-old son asks you to iron the dress he recently purchased and plans to wear? Listeners learn the answer and much more in this wonderfully frank, loving, and practical account of parenting a transgender teen. Hassouri chronicles what amounts to a dual transition: as her child transitions from male to female, she navigates through anger, denial, and grief to eventual acceptance. Despite her experience advising other parents in her work as a pediatrician, she was blindsided by her child's gender identity.

This book depicts the life and career of Scott Hoying, Grammy Award-winning cofounder of Pentatonix, as seen by his mother Connie. More than just a book about her son’s life, Connie tells a heartfelt story of perseverance, dedication to music, LGBTQ+ acceptance, and supportive parenting.

In this salacious, vulnerable, heartbreaking, and hilarious guide to surviving the digital hellscape that is modern dating, model and eating disorder activist Ryan Sheldon offers a path to healing while looking for real love. Ryan unapologetically shares it all (even the cringeworthy) about his escapades as a gay man looking for romance in a sea of f--kboys. F*ckboys Are Boring is a guidebook for anyone who has struggled with feeling inferior, unworthy, or less-than while looking for connection in this disconnected world.

Queer Cosmos is a contemporary, fresh look into astrology, personal insight, and relationships for the LGBTQ+ community! Astrologer Colin Bedell from Cosmopolitan and QueerCosmos.com has brought together 15 years of research, client interviews, and astrological mastery to create a spiritual guide for not only resistance and resilience, but also personal insights and relationship compatibility.

Same-sex couples (gay dads, lesbian moms, or other queer couples) are faced with many different options when choosing to have a family that includes beautiful children. In Journey to Parenthood, author, activist, and father Eric Rosswood guides and helps prospective LGBTQIA parents explore adoption, foster care, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and coparenting. Each section includes a description of a specific family-building approach, followed by personal stories from same-sex couples and individuals who have chosen that particular path.

As a closeted teen, Ian wondered if he would ever be able to live openly with a male partner. Years later, he had not one but two partners in a polyamorous throuple - what more could he ask for? But something was still missing.... Join Ian and his partners, Alan and Jeremy, as they embark on a sometimes hilarious, sometimes tearful quest to become parents.

Want to know the secret to acing fatherhood? The fear of fatherhood isn’t a conversation many men like to have over a cold beer. But the truth is that nearly every father-to-be has concerns… So if you’re feeling a little anxious right now, rest assured that you’re not the only one. Dads have traditionally been sidelined when it comes to talking about pregnancy and parenthood, but there's good news for you – your baby is coming at the perfect time.