This LVW, we’ve partnered with LGBT Foundation to find out more about your rainbow families
WORDS BY EMMA
Happy Lesbian Visibility Week 2025. This year our theme is all about family. We’ve partnered up with LGBT Foundation, a UK-based national charity that focuses on LGBTQIA health and well-being, to hear what family means to you.
This is what family looks like to Emma.
What does family mean to you?
Chosen family is sacred to me: from early on I realised that biology or law didn’t always correlate with a group of people who loved and cared for each other; who wanted to see each other succeed without self-interest. For a long time, I felt burdened by obligation or guilt until I found others who offered their love and acceptance to me unconditionally, giving me a safe space to explore who I am and come to love and accept myself fully too. Since my relationship with my parents has been difficult, and I’ve never wanted children, family for me is about who is present, now: whether that’s just myself, as the only person who will be there in every waking moment until I leave this world; or my partner, who has chosen to care for me and create a life together of shared experiences; or my friends, who will ask me how I really am or come to my aid when I need more support.
Tell us about a typical day in your family life:
Quality time is the most important thing for me – we spend so much of our lives at work that time together is incredibly precious, no matter what we’re doing. Especially since I’ve lived in a couple of places and my family is spread far and wide, a typical day is often a mixture of making dinner and plans with my partner, while also sending photos or messages to my family around the world whenever something reminds me of them. It helps us feel like we’re still present in each other’s lives and reminds us that the love is always there – even if I don’t get to wrap them in a hug very often.
How have things changed for LGBTQIA+ families over your lifetime?
LGBTQIA+ families are slowly becoming more visible and accepted, but then again I’ve not lived all that long and have tended to be in big cities with progressive bubbles. The significance of chosen family has risen, even for those who are non-LGBTQIA+, because of so many factors that mean family is no longer a nuclear set-piece (separation, caring responsibilities, globalisation, etc.). It just goes to show that advocating for marginalised or underrepresented groups is in everyone’s interest: the flexibility and evolving understanding of what family can be, catalysed by the struggles of the LGBTQIA+ community, stands to benefit all those who want the freedom to create and define a family however they choose to do so.
What are your hopes for the future for LGBTQIA+ families?
I hope LGBTQIA+ families will be afforded the same protections and rights around the world, without discrimination or microaggressions or assumptions made. LGBTQIA+ people have always existed so someday in the near future, I believe it won’t be seen as a radical concept but simply another way that we choose to express ourselves and connect with other people.
You can find out more about LGBT Foundation here: https://lgbt.foundation/
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