Pride Celebration
June 1st marked the start of Pride Month. While many of us in the 2SLGTBQIA+ community celebrate our identities year round, Pride is a time for us to come together and celebrate our collective joys, and invite those not in the community to celebrate with us. It is a time for fun, for laughs, and also a time to remember those we have lost and the history of where we come from.
When I think about my time in this field as a transgender and queer individual, I think about how far it has come in the short time I have been in it. I first got into the lactation field in 2018, while chestfeeding my fourth baby. Very little, if anything, I read or saw about lactation was inclusive of queer families. There weren’t many providers that specialized in or even knew how to help these families, and there weren’t many trainings specifically about how to support them. I didn’t see myself in the literature or social media posts. And all the groups on social media had a lot of posts starting with “hey ladies!”
In my 6 years in this field, I have been fighting alongside those who have been fighting for much longer than that for inclusion of queer families. We’ve done this while facing violence and harm from those who don’t feel the same. I have met some incredible humans along the way, people I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Some I call family now. I have seen changes happening in lactation spaces. I see more terms being used, I am seeing more research come out regarding transgender lactation in particular, I am seeing more trainings being offered that focus on 2SLGBTQIA+ lactation. I am seeing more lactation providers from the community, who are helping to drive those changes. There are organizations like Birthing Advocacy, which is Black and queer led that now provide inclusive lactation educator trainings in addition to their inclusive doula trainings. Or Liam Kali, who gives continuing education specific to helping queer and trans families. And I am the first openly transgender board member of not only MSBC, but also the US Breastfeeding Committee. That is truly an accomplishment for both organizations, and the field in general. Certainly, all of this is something to celebrate during this conference and this Pride month.
These changes, while certainly met with some pushback, tell me that there are providers who do want to celebrate with us. There are providers who want to learn and who understand the value in including everyone in their lactation practice. While sometimes I can get discouraged and frustrated with setbacks, I celebrate every win. Because every win is one step closer to equitable care for all families.
So celebrate with me this Pride month. Celebrate with your trans and Two Spirit friends, your bi and pan friends, your gay, lesbian, and queer friends, your ace and aro friends, and all those friends who identify as being under the rainbow. And hold space for those who can’t be out for whatever reason, because you don’t have to be loud to be proud. But also remember that the first Pride was a riot, and though we have had some wins in the lactation field in terms of advancing equity and inclusion, we are not done yet. We will continue to fight, and continue to share our joy with every win. Happy Pride Month to my community!
*2SLGTBQIA+ is an acronym for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and the plus reflects the countless affirmative ways in which people choose to self-identify.