#queer parents

[shorthairedbrownqueer]

Channelling my inner mom (she does not exist)

[notenoughdramaaa]

Have you ever had to come out to your parents? I have—but not in the way you're thinking. My mom was a lifelong hippie who dreamed of having a queer kid so badly, it was almost tragic. She raised me and my two siblings in a stereotype-free utopia. I played with swords and dolls, my room was yellow (because gender-neutral, obviously), and I could get any haircut I wanted. When I was 12, she signed me up for a queer teen book club so I could “meet kids like me.” I read every David Levithan book in existence before I even knew who Judy Blume was.

I genuinely thought all families discussed Oscar Wilde as a gay icon over dinner. This was my normal. Naturally, I grew up in what I assumed was the fairy tale world of every gay kid’s dreams.

But life is full of surprises. My sister? Straight as an arrow. She joined a church, got married at 19, and had a baby by 20. My brother? Serial dater who finally settled down at 30. And then there was me—my mom’s last, desperate hope.

When I was 16, she sat me down, her eyes practically brimming with anticipation. She told me, “If there’s something you need to tell me, now’s the time.” I had to take a second to process. Then it hit me.

“Mom…I’m straight.”

That’s how I came out as straight to my mom and shattered her dreams forever. To this day, I’m pretty sure she mourns the loss of her hypothetical queer child. But we still bond over queer movies, and we both loudly complain when the gay character gets a sad ending just because he’s gay. Progress, I guess.

[passions-and-pupils]

I pray I never have a trans child. Not because I wouldn’t want them to transition and be happy in their own skin, but because we live in a world that would constantly criticize them for something as simple as who they are, a world that would make it as difficult as possible for them to transition because the moment they see you as trans or a woman your body is no longer yours.

I don’t want to hold my baby while they cry because they found out society has hated them before they were even born. If I do have a trans child I will do my best to help them through it, but I pray I won’t have to because I know first hand that good parenting won’t be enough to protect them. Not until the world changes

[mombian]

Minnie Bruce Pratt, an acclaimed poet, essayist, and activist who wrote, among other things, about losing custody of her children when she came out as a lesbian, died on July 4 of an aggressive brain tumor at age 76. Read on for more about her life and her experience of lesbian motherhood.

[landhficrecs]

Single Parent (1)

confections of the heart by pleasinglouis 25k

Harry chuckles, smiling when Louis’ breath hitches as he reaches up to brush his thumb over Louis’ cheek. “Louis, would you like to go on a date with me?”

He still worries that the date won’t go well, that Harry will get bored of him or decide it’s too complicated dating an omega with a pup, but he nods anyway, “Yes.”

It feels worth it when Harry’s lips widen into a grin and the dimple that Louis finds quite charming craters into his cheek. Who knows, maybe it won’t be as awkward as you think, Louis thinks to himself and follows Harry to where Oliver is watching a chef with a loud laugh show the pup how to sculpt with chocolate. Maybe this time it’ll work out.

.

.

Or Louis is a single mom, Harry is a pastry chef, and Oliver just wants his mom to be happy. With a teaspoon of love and a sprinkle of fate, the three might just find a home in each other.

darling, ill take care of you by louly23 20k

Louis watches the strip turn pink in the shitty employee bathroom of Donny stadium on a Wednesday evening in early April, 2008, and all she can fucking think as she sits there on the too-low, rickety old toilet seat that’s three fucking inches away from the sink with her nasty work khakis and Ann Summers underwear around her skinny 17-year-old ankles, 12,000,000 miles up Shit Creek with zero fucking paddles, is: I don’t even fucking like taquitos.

Across the ocean, in a small dingy-looking hallway in the shadiest part of Los Angeles, 16 year old Harry Styles tries to calm her breathing and wipe the sweat from her palms before she enters her very first audition as a fully grown, adult actor, a very long ways away from home.

...or Louis has a 7-year-old daughter, she's in a band, and apparently whenver she and that actor chick in the custom floral suits get near each other the internet loses it's shit.

With A Little Kindness by jacaranda_bloom 33k

The man lays his hand on Harry’s forearm and Harry looks up as the stranger leans in. “I just wanted to say,” he whispers. “Can I cover your bill? I’m a big believer in paying it forward and I can see you’re struggling. It’s none of my business, of course, but I’d really like to help.”

OR the one where Harry is a struggling single parent who doesn’t have time for relationships and Louis is a generous stranger who is unlucky in love, until fate decides to step in and bring them together.

Took Me by Surprise by QuickedWeen 20k

Louis Tomlinson and his best friend Bridget had a daughter when they were very young and he was on the brink of becoming the next MLS star. Until he blew out his knee.

A decade later, he's the head anchor of the American version of Match of the Day and is raising the coolest nine-year-old on the planet, who happens to be obsessed with Harry Styles - popstar, musician, and all-around household name.

tangled up and blue by thepolourryexpress 30k

Kai just shakes his head, making his way down the small batch of stairs with a hop in his step. “Have fun on your weird adult date.”

Harry sighs. “It’s not a date.”

“Dad, you already have him in your bed most nights,” Kai sings, walking backwards towards Louis’ car with an insufferable smirk on his face. “It’s not looking too good for you,” he shrugs, hands curled around the straps of his backpack.

Deep in His Eyes (I Think I See A Future) by FallingLikeThis 5k

Louis is a single father with twins, Davis and Ethan. Harry is the cute nursery school teacher that volunteers at the town’s fair.

promise you’ll remember by anonymous 10k

Louis is a widower whose daughter's fish just died. He panics, then ends up meeting Harry, a marine biologist who is out to steal his heart.

You’re Perfect Now by Kiwiwoman 21k

Louis is Harry’s bodyguard.

When Everything Gets In The Way by Kiwiwoman 16k

Louis is Harry's professor who holds his baby in lectures.

I’ll Call You Mine by KennieWen 13k

"Harry isn’t superstitious, doesn’t knock on wood, or wish on shooting stars, but his position on ‘love at first sight’ becomes increasingly wishy-washy as his mind begins to comprehend blue, blue, blue. He feels his heart constrict and tongue go dry. The man before him is the most beautiful omega he has ever seen in his entire life."

Or: A self indulgent Omega/Omega fic with a teacher/single parent of favorite student trope.

Right Beside You Is Where I Belong by lovelarry10 46k

“Harry, hi, I thought it was you,” Louis said as they came to a stop in front of him, Teddy by now sound asleep in his pushchair. “I hope I’m not holding you up?”

“Not at all,” Harry insisted, smiling down at Piper who was peering shyly up at the stranger in front of her. “I’m really glad we’ve seen you, actually. Pip, there’s someone I’d really love you to meet, sweetheart.”

Piper shuffled a little closer, clinging on to Harry’s shorts as he set a hand on her shoulder, willing her to relax. “Hello.”

“Hi!” Louis said, giving her a little wave, making Harry’s tummy flip over, loving how easy Louis seemed to be with his children. “I love your top. Sunflowers are my favourite.”

.•° ✿ °•.

Harry lives on his farm in the British countryside with his two children, loving the peace and quiet of his surroundings.

Louis is a writer who lives in the city, and decides it is time to take a break, to recharge and find some inspiration for his next book.

When Harry's daughter is left heartbroken by the unkindness of strangers, Louis decides it is time to right some wrongs, but doesn't expect to be reunited with the one who got away...

Wonder How I Ever Made It Through by lovelarry10 9k

Prompt 106: The shame at being incapable of it yourself.

Louis loved his home and his neighbourhood. It made jogging more enjoyable. But when a boy with curly hair moves into a home down the street, neither of these men realise what changes are coming their way.

Or Harry and Louis realise that all they need to be strong is love.

To Begin Again by lovelarry10 23k

“I, uh, I’m really sorry for yelling at you like I did.”

“Hey, I deserved it and more. I’m lucky you didn’t come and deck me on the nose,” Louis said, holding his hands up as if to surrender. “Seriously, you went lightly on me. If a crazy dog was leaping around me and my kids, I’d have lost my shit long before you did, and it would have been a lot more sweary than yours as well.”

Harry laughed at that, quite liking the man now he was getting to know him. This Louis seemed to have a good sense of humour, and his dog was fairly likeable too, laying there sound asleep, sunbathing.

“Well, I don’t usually lose my temper, so I just wanted to apologise.”

“It’s me who needs to say sorry. My stupid dog ate their bloody eggs, and on Easter Sunday at that. It’s a good job we don’t go to church, Cliff, or we’d both be going straight to hell. Nice ears, by the way. I meant to say earlier.”

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

Harry’s ready to spend a fun Easter morning with his two children at the park, but it’s thrown into chaos when an over-excited dog and his owner come barrelling into their lives…

@louly23 @jacaranda-bloom @becomeawendybird @thepolourryexpress @fallinglikethis

(Please @ the authors if you can xx)

[lightofthedarkdarkofthelight]

Me and my youngest 🐾

[dadsdaugther]

I saw a queer couple today going for a walk with their child and it healed something inside of me. It was so beautiful 😭💖

[atuats-sidechick]

Me: I'm going to write a coming out (-ish) story! One based on my experience with queer parents who did not give two fucks about my coming out LOL

Also me: Wait, I didn't plan to write about unconditional love. This is hard 🤡

[renfys]

Throwback to the time my friend ask us if my wife's pregnancy was planned when we're both AFAB.

[downloadspiral]

Making my first poll in honor of my mom recently coming out as bisexual! 🥰

[keeganditty]

Sometimes my husband will knock on the door cause he doesn't have keys or hands or whatever so I'll open the door just a crack and then hold the baby up as if she opened the door and wanted to know who was there

[notesbynor]

neurodivergent and queer people how are we feeling?

[drmajalis]

Too good to stay on twitter

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[mombian]

As we close out LGBTQ History Month, I want to highlight some documentaries that look at the history of LGBTQ parents and our children and are available for streaming—several for free! Watch trailers (and in some cases, whole films), and find streaming info:

[bledyn]

every time someone starts the discussion on how same gender parents are the worst thing that could happen to a child, i want to scream.

Do you know what a child needs? Love. Love and love and love. So much love and acceptance that they drown in it. Not a father and a mother, not the "right" values, just love. it's so simple that I guess the only reason people don't get it is they're dumb and ignorant.