Each year more and more cute babies and children attend Atlanta Pride with their LGBT parents or with ally parents, all to enjoy to some rainbow joy in beautiful Piedmont Park. Many queer parents are also introducing their children to the political side of Pride by taking them on their first Dyke March. For whatever reason, seeing all the smiling, adorable faces of children being raised in an environment where LGBTQ people are not just tolerated but accepted and celebrated makes for an additional way to enjoy our Pride.
Enjoy some photos we captured of children having fun over the weekend!
The bemoaned go-go boy dancing on a float may soon have to surrender his status as the cultural symbol of Gay Pride festivals — to baby strollers.
“Over the last few years, Pride feels more like a giant play date,” said Gail Panacci, a lesbian mother of two young children. “There’s strollers, and an entire kid section, and there’s a lot now to accommodate LGBT families. It sometimes feels like it’s a giant birthday party.
“It’s wild and phenomenal, especially that this is happening in Atlanta,” she said.
Helicopter parents. It’s a term originally coined in the book “Parenting with Love and Logic” by Dr. Foster Cline and Jim Fay, and refers to parents who hover over their children like a helicopter. Gay moms and dads, don’t let this be you.
I was not aware of how prevalent helicopter parenting was until I recently had dinner with a friend who is a teacher. She told me that on the first day of school this year she witnessed parents coming in to stock and organize their children’s lockers. Not just one kid’s parents, several.
Oh, and did I mention she is a high school teacher? I thought it was a joke until she reassured me she wasn’t kidding.