Status
Collections
Publication
Description
Author Garner was five years old when her mother and father divorced and her dad came out as gay. Growing up immersed in gay culture, she now calls herself a "culturally queer" heterosexual woman. As a child, she often found herself in the middle of the political and moral debates surrounding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) parenting. She has since become a nationally recognized advocate for the estimated 10 million children growing up with LGBT parents. The creator of FamiliesLikeMine.com, Garner has written a deeply personal and much-needed book about gay parenting, from the seldom-heard perspective of grown children raised in these families. Using interviews with more than fifty sons and daughters, she debunks the myths that these children grow up damaged and confused, or that they turn out "just like everyone else." Eloquent and sophisticated, this book provides an insider's perspective for LGBT parents, their families, and their allies.--From publisher description.… (more)
Media reviews
User reviews
This book deals with many of the topics that might be expected: “coming out” as the child of a GLBT family, homophobia, schooling, the impacts of divorce/separation and HIV/AIDS, and so on. If these were the only topics covered this book would still be a valuable resource. Yet Garner also discusses other issues that are not immediately obvious, such as the differing experiences of growing up gay (“Second Generation”) or straight (“Culturally Queer, Erotically Straight’) in a GLBT family, and what that means once you’ve become an adult. If you grew up going to Gay Pride parades with your fathers, what happens when you grow up to be a straight man but still want to go to Gay Pride? Along the way, Garner shows that understanding these issues also requires that we reexamine the meaning of ideas such as “culture” and “family”. Families Like Mine is a useful book for those who want to better understand the reality of GLBT families. But it’s an even more useful book for gay dads or other GLBT parents who want to know that their children’s lives will really be like, and what they can do to best help prepare them for the future.