Tag: LGBT

Brighton Pride 2018: Why Pride is still important.

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Over the past thirty-something years, I’ve been ‘proud’ of many things. I was proud when I got a few A’s in my GCSE’s (I know, I was surprised, too), I was proud when I passed my driving test, I was proud when I lost a lot of weight whilst trying for a baby, and more recently, I was proud when I conquered my fear of open heights.

Pride isn’t just about being proud of yourself either, you can be proud of your friends, family, and colleagues. Your neighbours, your congregation, your country. Pride has so much power behind it. It can empower people and celebrate a community. There is nothing wrong with being proud, however when used in the wrong way it can blind one’s viewpoint.

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A Letter to the Marketing Team of…

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Dear Marketing Team,

It’s Pride season!

I probably don’t need to tell you this though, you’ve probably had it in your calendars since January, if not since last Pride. You’ve got your rainbow flags sat in storage ready to adorn the float you plan to place on the Pride parade, you’ve got your hashtags at the ready, posts scheduled, and maybe a few rainbow themed products already on the shelves of your local supermarket. You are ready to celebrate Pride!

But, as always, you’ve forgotten one important thing; the meaning behind Pride.

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Judged for being a Two Mum Family.

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When you become a parent, you will inevitably be judged for the decisions you make. Whether it’s by people you know or complete strangers. Some people won’t even know they’re doing it, but you will. It could be about whether you chose the bottle or the breast, the way you birthed your baby, deciding over baby-led weaning or traditional weaning. They will judge or pass comment.

But how about judgement over the person you choose to fall in love with? Or telling you that because you go to bed with a certain gender or sex, your child will fail.

Don’t believe it? This exact thing happened to me and several other rainbow families just the other day.

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T’s Reads: LGBT Books: Two Mums & Two Mums and a Menagerie, by Carolyn Robertson

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We’re always on the lookout for books that represent us as a family as we feel it’s important not just for T, so that he doesn’t always feel like a minority, but for society, so that they can accept, and dare I say it, ‘normalise’ us as a family unit.

If you visit your local library or book shop, it’s very rare that you’ll see many stories that show same sex families living every day lives like other stories on the shelves. More often than not, you’ll see books that ‘educate’ readers about different families, but there aren’t many than don’t make a point of the family being a same sex family.

Carolyn Robertson and her partner are adoptive mums to two boys, and began her publishing platform ‘Sparklypoo‘ in 2014 as a way to create books for LGBT adoptive families when she saw that the market was lacking in this subject.

I wanted to create books that were full of colour, fun and humour that would sit alongside all the other books our children enjoyed. Most of all I wanted affirming books that all children could appreciate because the topic of having Two Mums or Dads was simply incidental to the story.

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Finding LGBT and Family Friendly Holidays

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*THIS IS A SPONSORED POST*

It’s probably been over five years since Sharon and I got on a plane and went on holiday together. Five years since we felt tropical sun on our skin, or sat by the poolside drinking cocktails at 10am 11am. I remember looking at hotels online and then eagerly waiting to exchange our cash at the post office. It was so exciting.

Of course all of that changed once we started trying for children, and then once they arrived it was no different. Now a days, we enjoy more local holidays, and although it’s nice having the convenience of the UK, I do miss the blue seas and hot sand.

Family LGBT Friendly

As expected, having children can determine where you go on holiday, which is one of the reasons we haven’t been on a ‘proper’ holiday abroad for a long time. It can be expensive, and the thought of taking a toddler on a flight longer than two hours sends a chill through my spine.

But for an LGBT family, there are also other things that we take into consideration when choosing where to holiday, not just expense. Things such as cultural and religious differences, the law, even what rights the other parent has if one were to fall ill. The rights you have in one country may not be reflected in the next country you visit. For us, these factors are more important.

This year, one of our big plans is to get T his very own passport so we can get him on a plane before he goes to school. It would be an added bonus if we can get him out of the UK and somewhere completely different! But when it comes to picking a holiday in a different country, we will definitely be searching for LGBT Holidays for our own peace of mind as a family.

James Villa Holidays have recently released a list of LGBT-friendly destinations, as well as a list of events throughout the year. LGBT-friendly locations and villas include, Cyprus, Crete, Tuscany, Lanzarote, Menorca, and Algarve, and several other locations also boast secluded villas for privacy! The thought of a private pool sounds like heaven, not to mention the thought of exploring new places.

Here are a few of my favourite events from their list of LGBT events:

Carnaval de Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (Jan/Feb)

We’ve actually been to Gran Canaria and cannot say a bad word about it. The hotel we stayed at was friendly to Sharon and I as a couple, but we saw several families there too. The nightlife in the local area is so much fun, what with drag shows and cabaret events throughout the night, and the food in local restaurants caters for all.

Maspalomas Gay Pride, Gran Canaria (May)

Just down the road from Las Palmas, Maspalomas celebrates it’s Gay Pride in May. As part of the 10 day festival, you’ll see carnivals on the street, and hear the sound of music from bars, clubs, and restaurants. There’s a reason Gran Canaria is one of the top Gay-Friendly holiday locations.

Other Prides throughout the year can be found in Cyprus (May), Ibiza (June), Barcelona (July), and Malta (September).

Circuit Festival, Barcelona (Aug)

The circuit festival is a 10 day event full of fun, games, and dancing, but is also one of the biggest LGBT parties in the world – with links dating back to the 70’s and 80’s where the parties were a place for the underground, and once illegal, LGBT community to feel safe and have fun. Now a days, it’s a huge disco and even takes over the main water park during the day.

This one might not be one for the family, but then who says you can’t go on holiday without the kids once in a while?

If you’re a rainbow family, where do you go on holiday? What do you look for when choosing the perfect holiday?

 

I’m Only Human

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The other day, my friend Emily started a really interesting discussion about how the saying “I’m Only Human” is used to excuse poor behaviour.

To be more specific, this relates to a very well known vlogger (you know, the one with the £50 £25 12 day advent calendar worth about £10 £5) who recently had several of their old tweets published from when they were a child (I lie, they were 20). The tweets have since been deleted, but thanks to the internet, they still exist.

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