(July 1, 2014) “Children are desperate to know that they are loved and accepted by their parents. You need to make the decision that your child’s happiness and safety is totally unrelated to his sexual orientation. The one place that kids cannot be afraid is in their homes.” – Judy Shepard, co-founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

A wonderful book that should be read by every educator and anyone else who works with children. And parents. Definitely parents. I listened to the audiobook which was read by its author, Lori Duron. The book is based on her blog of the same name, “Raising My Rainbow.” It chronicles her journey with her gender non-conforming son CJ, his older brother Chase, her husband Matt, and their extended family and friends. She started the blog when she discovered in her extensive Google search that there was no information out there about pre-school boys who preferred all things girly. 

It’s heartbreaking at points as she helps her son Chase navigate relentless bullying at school because of his younger brother’s perceived sexual orientation. She describes how he handled a situation on the playground at the age of 7 when another child observed that his 4 year old brother liked to play with “girl toys.” His response was, “Yeah. He’s gender non-conforming.” And he went on with his play. Lori observes, “The bullies, predators, haters and gossips in life move in circles. They sniff out the smallest scent of fear and strike. When there is no fear, those people lose their power. Their power goes back to the rightful owner.” 
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