Parenting

16 LGBTQA+ Mothers Everyone Should Know

ParentingPublished Jun 1, 2020
By Mandy Velez
familyinstagram/oh!mamiblue

Pride month is fast approaching and what better way to honor the LGBTQA+ community than pay homage to some of the most amazing LGBTQA+ mothers out there. Not only do they shoulder the responsibility of motherhood but also and often handle so much adversity simply for being a loving family. We found some of the coolest moms in the LGBTQA+ community out there that we think more people should know. 

In this list, we highlight the mothers who have children but are also doing amazing things for their community, even if it's just living their lives unapologetically. We have the woman who gives out "free hugs" to LGBTQA+ youth at Pride celebrations and we also have lawmakers, authors, and Instagram influencers. If one is looking for inspiration in the LGBTQA+ parenting community, it's all right here and these people are pretty amazing. (While some of these women are not LGBTQA+ mothers, given their advocacy and dedication to kids in the community, we decided to honor them as well.)

1/16

Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach is one of the players on the United States Women's National Soccer Team and a world champion. She also happens to be a co-parent with author Glennon Doyle and posts about her kids frequently. And she sets a fabulous example because she was at the forefront of a lawsuit filed by the women's soccer team to gain equal pay for the players.

2/16

Glennon Doyle

Glennon Doyle is another LGBTQA+ mother who everyone should know about if they don't already. She started her writing career in the blogosphere but quickly became a published author. Her writing often centered on family and children and then shifted in 2016 when she ended her marriage to her husband Craig Melton and began living her authentic life.

3/16

Annise Parker

Annise Parker may be known to some, but she's not as high profile as Glennon or Abby. Parker is the former mayor of Houston, which became the largest city to elect an openly gay mayor into office. She has been with her partner for 23 years and is an adoption advocate with four kids.

4/16

Laura & Sam Abby

Laura and Sam Abby may have over 17,000 followers on Instagram where they show off highlights of their family life and love. But before that they were just sorority sisters who fell in love. They were featured on a Bravo show called Newlyweds: The First Year, which explored their lives as a lesbian couple. In addition to Instagram, Laura runs a wedding website geared toward helping lesbian brides navigate the industry.

5/16

Veronica Sanchez

It's a super positive thing to see members of the LGBTQA+ community living their best lives, including with families, and that's even more true for LGBTQA+ parents of color. Enter Veronica Sanchez, who runs the Oh!Mamiblue Instagram account. There, she shares her life as an LGBTQA+ mother, wife, and foodie.

6/16

The Anderson-Dolans

Fran and Nancy Anderson-Dolan are used to their son, pro-hockey player Jaret Anderson-Dolan, getting all of the attention, but now we're here to praise them. The two mothers raised Jaret into the rock star and advocate he is today and have supported his dream. Of how his moms raised him he told the Los Angeles  Times, "It's just part of my life and I'm happy. I wouldn't want to change anything."

7/16

Sara Cunningham

Sara Cunningham is cisgender straight mom but she deserves a special spot on our list given that she kinda has become a mother to so many LGBTQA+ children out there. When her son came out to her that he was gay, she became inspired to become an advocate for LGBTQA+ kids who aren't supported by their families. She took on a role of being a "stand-in" mother at weddings when those kids' real mothers don't want to show up. She's also behind the "Free Hugs" movement at Pride celebrations.

8/16

Jamelia & Kewanda Walker

Meet Mrs. and Mrs. Walker, aka Jamelia and Kewanda Walker, two moms who are also sharing their lives and families with the world on Instagram. They are parents to one child, Phoenix, and run their own nonprofit Helping Hands of Joye'. Their feed is fun and full of lots of love.

9/16

Quinn Cummings

So many LGBTQA+ children out there don't have supportive parents, mothers included. So when someone is willing to step up and do the work, it's all the more meaningful. Author Quinn Cummings's sexual orientation is unknown but she deserves the LGBTQA+ mother honor. She stepped up for that role in 2019 after a Republican lawmaker in West Virginia said he would drown his children if they told him they were gay. She got an overwhelming response.

10/16

April DeBoer

April DeBoer is a mother who will go down in history, literally. She and her partner Jayne Rowse took a case to the US Supreme Court hoping to gain the right to get married as a same-sex couple so that they may legally adopt a child as a couple -- and they won. The case, named DeBoer vs Snyder, became a landmark case for the LGBTQA+ community.

11/16

Cynthia Nixon

Cynthia Nixon is an icon for many reasons. She ran for governor of New York state as a progressive Democratic candidate, played one of the most recognizable TV show characters on Sex and the City, and is a fabulous LGBT mother with her partner, Christine Marinoni. The two have a child together and Nixon has two children from a previous marriage.

12/16

Wanda Sykes

Although Wanda Sykes is almost universally loved and known for her comedic acting, we thought she made a great candidate for this list given that many people may not know about one of her biggest roles: as an LGBTQA+ mom and advocate. She was honored for LGBTQA+ impact in 2017 by The Points Foundation.

13/16
Jodie Foster-placeholder
Jodie Foster
Wikipedia Commons

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster may not be the first person who comes to find when thinking about LGBTQA+ mothers but she's certainly worth a spot on the list. Foster, an Oscar-winning actress and mom, came out as gay at the Golden Globes in 2013, which led to some controversy after. According to an opinion piece on a site called Pride Source, "in 1994, she was the first major donor to provide support for the production of the short film Trevor." And in 2007 gave The LGBTQA+ group, The Trevor Project one of its biggest donations.

14/16

Jake Santos

Jake Santos is an LGBTQA+ mother based abroad as well as an Instagrammer and photographer. She captures the lives of her family members, including her wife and son, in stunning photos that are cataloged on her page for her almost 17,000 followers. She's a great page to follow if bilingual mothers are looking for international inspo.

15/16

Nayra

Nayra is another LGBTQA+ mother on Instagram who hails from Spain and her family is big and beautiful as well. Like Jake Santos, her posts are in Spanish for Spanish-speaking or bilingual folks who want to follow her journey. As she wrote on one of her posts, "Ohana means family, and the family never abandons you or forgets you."

16/16

Mel Roy

Mel Roy is an influencer on Instagram and blogger. She shares two children, a son and a daughter, with her wife. On her social media, she shares family adventures and information about her job as a real estate agent. On her blog, she talks about how artificial insemination enabled her to have her two kids.

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