The month of June in the United States and also in many other countries around the globe is recognized as Pride Month.  During June, individuals and organizations raise awareness of issues and concerns that impact the quality of life and safety of many LGBTQIA+ identified individuals.  Additionally, we honor and recognize the many contributions that LGBTQIA+ people have made in their communities and beyond.  Pride Month originated to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June, 1969.

The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) has created an online resource page for LGBTQIA+ families and the perinatal professionals that support them.  The USBC page includes valuable information and links to resources available through other organizations such as Le Leche League International, Kellymom.com and more.  Feeding babies human milk is just as important to LGBTQIA+ families as it is for heterosexual, cisnormative families and perinatal professionals should be sure to have resources at hand to assist families in their breast/chestfeeding journeys.

Connecting the Dots has shared resources on the topic of supporting LGBTQIA+ families through the perinatal period that you may find helpful.

• Series: Welcoming All Families: An LCCE Shares Tips & Resources for Your Childbirth Practice
• Series: Welcoming All Families: How Welcoming Is Your Childbirth Class to All Families: A Lesbian Couple Share Their Experience
• Series: Welcoming All Families: Using Gender Neutral Language in Birth Classes
• Series: Welcoming All Families: The Need for LGBTQ Specific Childbirth Classes
• Series: Welcoming All Families: Working with Gender Variant (Transgender) Families

June is a great time to review your professional materials, make sure they are inclusive and representative of all the families who may need resources for the childbearing year. Skimming your website and marketing materials, collating your resource lists and preparing information for LGBTQIA+ clients who may need your services is important.  You may want to include some of the resources found here and on the USBC Pride Resource Page.

Happy Pride Month to all those LGBTQIA+  professionals and families who are our peers, colleagues, friends and loved ones.  We see you.

As a side note, please explore the Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the Binary.  These images, licensed under Creative Commons and free to use can be added to classroom material, parent handouts and presentations as you see fit.  Today’s blog post image was taken from that collection

Additional note: If you want to learn more about what the initials LGBTQIA+ stand for and more, The New York Times has a great article discussing just this.

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