We want their queer community to feel special to them, but normal, too. We want them to have a different childhood from either of us.
With two contrasting adolescent experiences, Sam and I have talked a lot about how to raise our own kids. They never had a conversation about her sexuality. My mom walked in without knocking, and when she saw us, she just closed the door.' When her mom asked about the girl the next day, Sam said, 'it was in a normal way, not a coming-out conversation.' Her dad finally noticed when girls began staying over and Sam's bedroom door was closed. 'When I was 15, I had a girl in my room, and we were kissing. 'I never really had to come out,' she told me. Same-sex relationships were normalized for my wife, Sam, when she was much younger than I was. My wife's experience was different from mine Still, I wonder what my young life would have looked like with examples of the queer experience, whether in movies, on TV, or in my real world. Being able to blend my family into this world has been a privilege I've never taken for granted.
