Parenting with Pride is a lifeline for parents navigating the journey of raising LGBTQ+ teens and is structured around four pillars: Embrace, Educate, Empower, and Love, with each chapter guiding readers through emotions, challenges, and growth. Why was this an important book for you to write? 

Writing and journaling have always been a big part of who I am and how I express myself.  I kept copious notes on all of the meetings with the dozens of professionals we worked with in those first 18 months, and having the escape of just pouring all of my thoughts and feelings onto a page was quite literally a life saver for me. As we landed on more solid ground I realized that I needed to share our story with all of its vulnerability and space for evolution so that others would realize they are not alone. I knew I could write something that was engaging and real in a way that could help so many people without shaming or isolating anyone. It was also important that there was space for reflection and prompts to help the reader really connect with where they are now and where they wish to be.  

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about? 

I knew that in order to convey our experiences, to really honor what each of us went through and learned,  I would need to put myself back in time. I would meditate and get really quiet so I could access all of the feelings and thoughts and then record them. It was particularly difficult writing about almost losing Connor to suicide, although the editing process zoomed out quite a bit from the gritty emotion of the first draft. If you read anything and thought “wow, that’s intense” or “that must have been so difficult, ” know that I felt it over and over again as I wrote and edited the book. 

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book? 

Oh my goodness, so many! The four pillars really helped me organize everything I wanted to share with readers in a way that I hope will help them remember. I think there are essentially four main ideas: 1. Embrace the messiness and the unknown. Embrace that there is no such thing as a perfect parent and that some of the best moments are found in owning our mistakes and modeling being human. 2. We ALL have biases, that is not a judgement call, and we are ALL capable of unlearning and evolving. 3. Learning to trust yourself and set healthly boundaries is so empowering, which then allows you the knowledge, space, and ability to empower your kids. 4. More than anything else in the world, our kids just need us to see them, hear them, and love them without conditions or spirit of transactionality.

What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book? 

Your child, friend, or colleague sharing their sexuality or gender identity with you is a gift. It takes courage and vulnerability. Trust that they know who they are and just love them and support them.

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