Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Parents

Out Of The Ordinary is a fantastic collection of essays dealing with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and transexual parents. The level of reading can be hard at time and the book can be very descriptive but otherwise it's a fantasic book about growing up in a family were there is no mom and dad and if there is one of them is not entirly happy. A perfect book for anyone gay or kids with gay parents. A wonderful collection!

I bought this book for a class I am taking. I'm doing my project on same-sex parenting and wanted to get different points of view on it. This book was more than helpful and provided a good idea of the varying views of children of gay, lesbian, or transgendered parents. Not all of the essays think of their parents as the greatest in the world, which I was surprised at. As someone who was shocked to learn several years ago that someone very close to me was gay, the essays convay many of the emotions that I felt when hearing the "coming out" speech. I know that anyone who is close to somebody that's gay will be able to relate to much of this book.

As the bi-lesbian poly pagan mother of a small child, I know my daughter will soon encounter prejudice from her classmates at school. My daughter was 3 when I came-out. But she was old enough to remember the awful fights between her father & me before that time, and since my coming-out, she's seen how much happier I am and how much better her father & I get along. So she thinks that its perfectly wonderful that I'm out & proud, she hasn't any pre-conceived prejudices about my being gay, and she's thrilled that I have a good (non-sexual) friendship with her father still, as well as a happy long-term lesbian relationship with my wife, who's a MtF transwoman. (she & I were handfasted in a poly pagan ceremony last year) And even though my daughter knows that our family is far from "traditional" she's very happy that we haven't had to go thru the pain of divorce, nor has she had to be without either one of her parents. I hope that someday she'll read this book and see that there are other kids out there who do have GLBT parents but who suffered a lot more than she's had to because of it. (like my wife's kids did. They were all teens when she came-out and went thru her transition. It took them 10 yrs to mature enough to want to re-establish a new relationship with her) But I also hope my daughter can find some strength in knowing she's not alone. She already knows that she's well-loved by all of us and that we'll support her, no matter if she's str8, bi, gay or TG. (tho' it seems right now that she may be str8, I was much like her at that age too, and I wasn't str8)

Finally,, this book was just what I have been looking for. I've been diligently searching for information on how my lesbianism would effect my daughter and the sterile studies I found just didn't seem to satisfy my quest. I found comfort from this book and in knowing who she becomes depends on all the factors of parenting and not just the fact that I'm a lesbian. This collection outweighs the studies because the honesty of the writers provided rare and precious information. I hope volume two is in the works and perhaps we will hear from some more artificial insemination babies. Thanks to the writers and editors for letting these voices be heard loud and proud.

The stories provided by these children of gays, lesbians and transgendered parents demonstrate the same joy, confusion, sadness and questioning that children in all families experience. But these stories explain the difficulties that challenge these children in a society that is not always understanding of differences. At a time when a child is trying to form their own sexual identity, facing the world with a "different" parent stretches them to learn more about themselves and life in the process. Many of these stories indicate the strength that is gained and the love that remains between parent and child as these families experience emotional highs and lows. This book provides these writers with an opportunity to tell their story; their reality of a tough situation. I recommend it to all parents, parents-to-be and children who are trying to gain a better understanding of their own family or of other families. It stretches our perceptions and opens our hearts.