Jun 2nd, 2003
Quoted in Advocate and And Baby
The Advocate, “Generations of Pride,” by Noelle Howey. June 10, 2003, pp. 40-41.
Howey gives me the last word in her article about kids in P-Town for Family Week:
Still, for those who manage to attend, it can be a life-altering experience. Thirty-one-year-old Abigail Garner, daughter of a gay dad and author of the forthcoming book Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is, says her three trips to Family Week reminded her of her “queer heritage.”
As an adult, Garner wasn’t sure she belonged at gay family gatherings anymore. But once she went and hung out with other adult children of gay parents, she felt that “I had met long-lost brothers and sisters. And because of that, I started to realize what parts of me were a result of coming from a gay family…. It made me realize that we have a queer heritage to protect and to pass on.” It reminded her, Garner says, that she still belongs to the community.
And Baby Magazine, How gay and transgender parents observe Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, by Jennifer Newton Reents, May/June 2003, p. 17
I corresponded with the writer completely via email, yet I was somehow still misinterpreted.
I wrote to the Magazine, but have not heard anything.
May 31, 2003
Letters to the Editor
And Baby Magazine
499 Van Brunt Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231Re: May/June 2003, p. 17
Dear Ms. Musolf Crouch:
I was confused to see how I was cited in Jennifer Newton Reents’ page about Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Reents reported that I said Father’s Day was “ideal” for transgender parents and gay dads. All of my communication with Reents was via email, in which I described Father’s Day as ”challenging” for some families, and even “traumatic” for others. The challenge is for each family to overcome the pressure and assumptions surrounding gender-specific days and celebrate their relationships in ways that are meaningful for them. This is more difficult to navigate for some families than it is for others. To suggest the day is “ideal ” — which I never stated — trivializes the feelings of families who are really grappling with how to handle it.
Sincerely,
Abigail Garner
FamiliesLikeMine.com