Description
Book SynopsisSpawning Generations is a collection of stories by queerspawn (people with LGBTQ+ parents) spanning six decades, three continents, and five countries. Curated by queerspawn, this anthology is about carving out a space for queerspawn to tell their own stories. The contributors in this volume break away from the pressures to be perfect, the demands to be well adjusted, and the need to prove that they turned out “all right.” These are queerspawn stories, airbrushed for no one, and told on their own terms.
Trade ReviewThoughtfully curated by co-editors who identify as queerspawn themselves, this astute anthology highlights stories by people with LGBTQ+ parents ready to share their experiences without glossing over the complexities of family, truth, community, and culture. Spawning Generations deftly demonstrates how authentic voices emerge when queerspawn have the opportunity to speak for themselves.- Abigail Garner, Author of Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is // This groundbreaking book provides a lovely and personal entry into the world of queerspawn. As both a queerspawn and queer parent, I felt real gratitude to these brave writers for sharing their stories—they provide insight into my own life as well as parenting guideposts. - Shoshana Magnet, Associate Professor, Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies, University of Ottawa // Queerspawn answer, on their own terms, the litany of questions proposed to them by friends, co-workers, strangers, as well as anyone and everyone who have asked what it’s like to be raised by queer parents. Sometimes these questions are asked in genuine and loving ways, but too often, they are voyeuristic, titillating, and upsetting. They don’t want to be your circus sideshow, your poster child, or your role model. They have claimed the pages of Spawning Generations to share their complicated stories of playgrounds, potlucks, pride marches, secrets, family, dancing, desire, mourning, and an intimate view of the best and worst of queer culture. -Karleen Pendleton Jiménez, Author of How to Get a Girl Pregnant // The highs and lows of growing up in queer families - Now Toronto // Kids of same-sex parents need to tell their own stories - Toronto Star
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Finding Each Other Makeda Zook and Sadie Epstein-Fine I. BEGINNINGS Rainbow Kid: Rants and Reflections Liam Sky Spawn Gabriel Back-Gaal Gathering Voices: An Interview Project with Young Adults Raised in Queer Families Sammy Sass 1986 Kellen Kaiser spawning generations My Life as a Play Micah Champagne Insider/Outsider: Breaking the Boundaries of Heteronormativity Cyndi Gilbert Closets of Fear, Islands of Love: Coming of Age in the 1980s Niki Kaiser, Carey-Anne Morrison, and Lorinda Peterson (Illustrator) The Love of the Princess: The Kids Really Are Alright Felix Munger Sweating the Gay Stuff: The Toaster Oven Tradition Sadie Epstein-Fine II. MIDDLES Eighteen: My First Year as a Grownup Queer(spawn) Devan Wells A Homophobe at Body Electric Christopher Oliphant Glitter in the Dishwasher Morgan Baskin Leslie’s Girl Jessica Edwards Roots and Rainbows Aviva Gale-Buncel Did I Make My Mother Gay? Meredith Fenton Gayby Baby: In Conversation with Filmmaker Maya Newell Maya Newell, Makeda Zook, and Sadie Epstein-Fine Don’t Leave Me This Way Suzanne Phare III. ENDINGS Jannit’s Pink Lesbian Kitchen Hannah Rabinovitch My Moms Are Getting Gay Married, But I Won’t Be There Kimmi Lynne Moore If You’re Gay, What Am I? Elizabeth Collins We Are Made of Generations Jamie Bergeron Watching Roseanne Dori Kavanagh Resistance, Like Leather, Is a Beautiful Thing Lisa Deanne Smith In Between Heart and Break Makeda Zook About the Contributors About the Editors
