If you, like me, found yourself completely in awe over that Blues Clues & You Pride parade, then I have fantastic news if you were hoping to find ways to expand the conversation to children.
Queer Kid Stuff started back in 2016 as a web series by Lindsay ‘Lindz’ Amer and their bestest stuffed friend, Teddy. The series aimed to explain queer topics to young viewers, from its premiere episode, “What Does Gay Mean,” to having segments with “the grown-ups” who talk about how to discuss these issues with kids.
From there, Queer Kid Stuff has grown into a space that offers educational tools for teachers, virtual performances for kids, and all kinds of resources to further your understanding of the queer community.
The website has officially relaunched in celebration of this year’s Pride Month and with that relaunch comes a new membership program: Queer Kid Community. Here’s what Lindz had to say about the program:
The Community is for parents, educators, and progressive grown ups who want to connect with us and our community to spread queer joy. Memberships will include access to monthly curated guides that bring resources together with media and original educational content under a monthly theme and an invitation to our members-only Slack community. We at QKS will continue providing virtual performances at schools, libraries, and community centers as well as providing professional development, consulting, and creative services in addition to producing and partnering on original LGBTQ+ and social justice family content.
Membership is $5 a month and will give members the ability to connect with other members, participate in activities, and even meet queer activists who are doing work in the community.
To me, this is a good way to not only learn through the resources offered per month but to learn from others who are, most likely, facing similar issues. There is an extra sense of reassurance when you realize that you aren’t alone in trying to educate yourself about something that may be out of your wheelhouse. I don’t just mean that for folks outside the queer community, I also mean those of us within it who might not be as knowledgeable on a particular topic.
When it comes to the queer community, one of the questions that often gets asked is how to discuss it with children and whether or not children are capable of understanding it at all. While the Blues Clues & You parade is a good way to show that, yes, you can present this kind of content to kids, websites like Queer Kid Stuff are working to create content that delves deeper into the community. There are lots of topics that are being discussed, and they’re being done in a way that’s easily accessible to kids and, let’s be honest, adults who are either, 1) trying to learn about the ever-expanding queer community, and 2) wondering how they can talk about particular topics with their children.
Or talk to children in general, as I’ve discovered as a bisexual woman with no children who does, occasionally, run into a curious child via friends and family with children.
I always feel that conversations like this should start early and can’t help but wonder what my own coming out story would’ve been like had I had something that not only explained different aspects of gay but explained it in a way that made it very okay to identify in such a way. I’ll never really know the answer to that, but I do know, at the very least, that it’s wonderful to see this much effort being put into teaching younger generations and reassuring them that they’re enough.
You can check out the Queer Kid Stuff website here.
You can become a part of the Queer Kid Community here.
(Image: Lindsay ‘Lindz’ Amer)
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