Diverse LGBTQ+ Children's Books

Today is the first day of Pride month! I am so beyond lucky to be able to live in a country where my queerness is reason for celebration. That is not to say that everyone in this country celebrates the lives of the queer community, but in my time on this Earth, I have seen people’s openness to the queer community completely shift. During the first half of my life, people were still hesitant to accept members of the LGBTQIA+ community. During the last 20 years I have seen a large shift in the views of the general public, and more people have started to accept the queer community and consider themselves allies. Below, I am sharing my favorite diverse LGBTQ+ children’s books that are out there. This list includes the books we have bought our daughter to help teach her about all different types of families dynamics.

What does LGBTQ+ mean?

The acronym LGBTQ+ is an ever changing and evolving acronym. It is an inclusive term covering many different genders and sexualities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, asexual, pansexual, and allies.

When my wife and I decided to start our family, we thought long and hard about how we will raise our children and what lessons we will be able to share with them. Our family has two mommies, so we needed to think about how that might impact our children. Will they be made fun of? Will they be bullied? How will they adapt.

One step toward making sure that our children feel confident about their family is through children’s literature. There are so many incredible books out there to teach children about different family dynamics and how to love themselves even if they feel “different”.

I believe if you are creating any book list, the list should also be diverse. The characters in the books should all look different. You should have representation all across the board, characters of different races, characters of different abilities, characters of different faiths, characters of different sexualities, etc.

Can you teach LGBTQ+ subject matter to children?

There is a way to teach most subject matter to a child in a way that is appropriate and on their level. For example, just because you are reading a story that includes characters of different sexualities, it doesn’t mean that the book is R rated. People are people, and people are different, and it is important to get comfortable with the world outside of your bubble.

I hope you love the books on this diverse LGBTQ+ Children’s book list and that your children find these books fun and entertaining.

Here is our daughter’s current Pride Month book list (please feel free to share more ideas in the comments):

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