A Note to My Kid

This is the fourth of five letters we'll be sharing this week as part of our work with The Rainbow Letters, an initiative to generate healing and empathy around the topic of LGBTQ family through the art of letter-writing. Originally designed to increase visibility for children and adults with LGBTQ parents, The Rainbow Letters is now expanding its audience and calling for letters written by anyone who is or has family members who are LGBTQ. We look forward to sharing one letter with you each day this week!

This is the second of five letters we'll be sharing this week as part of our work with The Rainbow Letters, an initiative to generate healing and empathy around the topic of LGBTQ family through the art of letter-writing. Originally designed to increase visibility for children and adults with LGBTQ parents, The Rainbow Letters is now expanding its audience and calling for letters written by anyone who is or has family members who are LGBTQ. We look forward to sharing one letter with you each day this week!

To my Son,

It hasn’t been easy for you, in fact only a few know just how close to the edge you were at times. You learned to hide it well with phony smiles and forced replies when asked...

A drama teacher’s response to a parent’s decision to withdraw her child from class went viral last week.

...

Nine years ago I gave birth to a beautiful, perfect baby girl.

But this story begins even before...

We received the following note just yesterday, and thought it was a perfect sentiment to share here on...

We love A Note to My Kid...reading each entry, we are beyond moved: we know that somewhere, a person who needs to read these posts is getting exactly the support they need at the exact moment they need it. 

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We had to share this lovely--and loving--piece, originally published over at the Huffington Post Religion vertical, from Diane Oviatt, a pediatric oncology nurse and an active church member working with the children in her local congregation.

When her...

I will start by saying that this Journey has not...

We had to share this great piece by Tim Teeman over at The Daily Beast. As news of Barry Manilow's union with his longtime love (and manager and company president) Garry Kief hit the press, Manilow...

If you follow PFLAG National on Facebook and Twitter, than #ANTMKTuesday probably looks familiar to you. If not, you probably know this great project better as A Note to My Kid (ANTMK). Every Tuesday over at ...

Mother and Son by Niky Never

This is a...

As a facilitator for Trans Youth Education and Support (TYES), an affiliate of PFLAG, I hear and observe incredible transition stories every day: the young child who hated having his picture taken before he transitioned, who immediately afterward...

Normally, we would hate to print a retraction. But when it's THIS kind of retraction, well, how can we resist?

Yolanda Bogert and Guy Kershaw of Queensland, Australia had no...

Dear Miles:

I think you already know how proud I am of you, and daddy feels the same way. You're a smart, funny, hard-working, and talented young man.  You're also a...

We got this sweet video from Lance, whose mom Leslie is the Vice President of PFLAG Fresno. Lance surprised his mom by driving from his home in LA up to Fresno to march with her in the Fresno Pride...

Dearest Becca,

I want to begin by saying how proud I am to be your mom and how impressed I am by your bravery and great love for all people. Your ability to see people first and challenges second has...

This video has gone viral and we aren't surprised! Well, not as surprised as Hayden Smith, the nervous young star of this raw footage, who decided to record his mother's reaction to him coming out.

Her reply is gorgeous. She...

Today at ANTMK we have a special letter, from Kristin Beck to her dad. Kristin is a former US Navy SEAL who gained public attention in 2013 when she came out as a transgender woman. As an activist and advocate in the LGBT community, Kristin is a remarkable hero and leader, and the following letter--which she wanted to pen both to and about her dad--is an open, honest, and loving communication that we are honored to share in hope that it may provide support and inspiration to others!

Dear Blake,

You are the bravest person I have ever met. You bring my life joy every day. It is an honor to be your mother.

When you told me at Safeway...

It's not quite Throwback Thursday yet, but we couldn't resist revisiting this wonderful letter from a dad in Michigan, to his high-school age son, Nate. The note first appeared on the Facebook page of an anti-homophobia organization, then went immediately viral. Said...

Normally we don't share other blog posts here at A Note to My Kid. But this was such a special post, from one special parent to another, we couldn't resist. We hear so often about the mothers...this Father's Day post was just to gorgeous to ignore.

Mom and Dad,

I know you don't support me or who I am and I currently feel that you never will, although I hope that one day you and the rest of our extremely large family will come around. I want...

Dear Wil,

As a rule, we parents think we do so much to shape our children. We neglect to acknowledge what you do to shape...