Writing Contest--"Why I'm Proud of My Gay Parent(s)"

I Heart My Two Moms

As the daughter of two moms and someone who feels passionately that they should be free to marry, serve out-and-proud in the military, and hey–adopt a child from China if they’re not exhausted from raising my siblings and me already–I believe one of the best ways to work for same-sex civil rights is through writing.

In my experience, magazine and newspapers editors don’t hear enough from the children of same-sex parents, and they’re eager to incorporate our voices into their publications.  I urge you to check out Abigail Garner’s book Families Like  Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell it Like It Is, and the new anthology Who’s Your Daddy?, and Other Writings on Queer Parenting (edited by Rachel Epstein).

My own published essays relating to LGBT families include, among others:

• “Why Mom Won’t Get Married” in The Advocate
• “Meet the Queerspawn” in The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide
• “Who’s Your Mommy?” in The Los Angeles Times

I’m eager to help other children of LGBT parents to articulate their feelings in social/political commentary.  Feeling proud of your gay parent or parents?  In honor of Pride Month, I invite you to write a paragraph on why, and you could win a copy of my memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood—a story about growing up white, straight, and boring in multicultural Los Angeles with my lesbian moms, a brother with Down syndrome, and a deep desire to be either gay or Mexican-American.

I’ll give away a copy of Gringa to the person who best articulates, in one paragraph, “Why I’m Proud of My Gay Parent(s).”  In addition, I’ll offer an hour of editing and publishing advice on up to five pages of your writing.

The contest runs from June 1^st to June 28^th. E-mail your entry to me at melissah@uoregon.edu. Happy writing!