We are looking for 16 young people to join us as we start an exciting new project for our Youth Advisory Council (YAC).

In partnership with Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre we are offering a monthly YAC meeting for teenagers in the Rainbow Families Community.

There will be a junior and senior council, ranging in age from 11 – 21 years. The junior council will take part in a cooking workshop led by chef and Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre Community Programs Coordinator Stephen Lunny. Each month Stephen and the Junior YAC will explore healthy eating principles and will cook a simple meal for the YAC to share.

The senior council will operate more formally and work on a project of their choice that will run over the year. These sessions will be facilitated by Rainbow Families Co-Chair Vanessa Gonzalez. The group will decide on an issue they want to have a positive impact on in their community, with the goal of launching the project in June next year.

The program will run on the second Thursday of each month from 6.30 – 8.30 at the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre. Due to COVID restrictions parents are encouraged to drop the YAC members at the centre, and enjoy dinner at one of the local eateries with other YAC parents. Unfortunately there is no capacity for parents to stay with the current restrictions.

Dates for 2020

Thursday September 10th

Thursday October 8th

Thursday November 12th

Thursday December 10th

The program is limited to 16 participants in total. Themes and knowledge will develop from month to month, so we ask that families commit to the full year if possible.

This program is possible thanks to funding from The City Of Sydney, and our partnership with Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre. 

If your teenager is interested in being part of this project please contact us.

Separation can be an isolating experience if you are an LGBTQ+ parent.  Where do you look for guidance if the models for post-separation parenting that you see around you for just don’t fit? How do you access support when the available services don’t seem to respond your family’s needs? Rainbow Families has responded by developing “The Separation Guide”. Like our other resources, the Guide draws on the experiences of community members. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to those who have been incredibly generous in telling their stories and sharing their wisdom from lessons learned. They are doing post-separation parenting in the way that works best for their families.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than ever, separated parents have had to be flexible and child-focused in co-parenting their children. The changes and ongoing uncertainty regarding work, school and other activities has meant an anxious time for many people and brought additional challenges for co-parenting. While few of us saw this coming, the ability to respond to unforeseen events is the mark of a good co-parenting relationship.

A good co-parenting relationship isn’t automatic though. It takes hard work and time and the willingness to develop good communication. Some parents might not get there for reasons beyond their control and safety should always be the priority. It’s about putting your child first but it’s also about not making things hard for yourself. The way you manage situations from the beginning will establish a foundation for the future.

Hello! I’m Ellie Royce, children’s author. I've just celebrated the release of my new picture book Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero written by me, illustrated by Hannah Chambers and published by Pow!Kids Books in Brooklyn, New York. It’s one of the very first children’s picture books in the world to feature a Drag Queen main character. I’ve been invited to share the story of how this book came about with you.

 One of the questions that people ask, especially people who know me, a middle aged, white, cis gender woman is- what inspired you to write a picture book about a Drag Queen?

I take this question as a compliment because I love to surprise and challenge people to look at things differently. I don’t believe in making assumptions about people or putting them in boxes, so this question always makes me smile.

This is how the story goes:

Chatting with my daughter one day about three years ago, we discussed the kinds of books that she and her friends wanted to read to their kids, and the fact that they were largely non -existent.

She was talking about the kinds of books that show diverse families and their perspective on life. This is a bit of a sensitive issue, given that I totally support own voices stories and I certainly didn’t want to encroach on, or appropriate, a story that wasn’t mine to tell.

I love writing stories about people, because I believe that our stories have power, that each of our individual stories is a thread in the fabric of our communities, our culture and our place on the planet. This fabric changes when our stories change, so every person’s story is meaningful and important with the power to change the world for the better.

The stories we create and tell each other also have this power. It’s almost magical, the way stories can change lives, heal and inspire. That’s why I wanted so much to try and get this story right!

I started thinking about the themes and concepts I wanted to work with, respect, diversity, inclusion, equity, courage and unconditional love, and about how these essential qualities exist everywhere, in all kinds of people.

I recalled a former colleague of mine who cared for disabled and elderly people as his day job and did it beautifully. His clients absolutely loved him. He did drag on weekends and had a whole tribe of nieces and nephews who adored him.

I was also really interested in the concept of ‘courage’ because it seems to me there’s different kinds of courage. There’s the outward kind, as in when my character dives into the path of an oncoming float to save a runaway puppy, then there’s the kind that is personal and maybe the hardest to muster up, the courage to be your true self.

Society accepts and often rewards that outward courage, but the other kind, the courage to be true to your heart and soul - despite possible negative reactions/responses from others - that’s usually much more of a challenge to deal with.

Everyone can identify with this challenge in their own way, but I feel it’s particularly relevant to LGBTQI+ kids and rainbow families.

HUGO The boy with the curious mark.

Illustrations by Award winning Illustrator Manuela Adreani

Written by debut author Yohann Devezy

Hugo the boy with the curious mark, is an important book.

Not just in June, for pride month, but every day.

This gentle story explores how it feels to be different, by telling the story of a young boy, Hugo, born with a rainbow birthmark. Initially ashamed of his mark and himself, Hugo is lost in sadness.

But determined to find someone with a rainbow mark just like his, he sets out on a roller-coaster of emotions and adventure. His quest seems in vain, but just as he gives up, something wonderful happens.

A perfect book that reflects the world we live in, embracing diversity and celebrating difference – many will relate to HUGO’s story.

A note from the Author

“I really wanted to publish a book that told the kind of story I wish I had when I was growing up” said author Yohann Devezy.

“As a member of the LGBTIQ community, we spend many years ashamed of our ‘difference’, so I wanted to tell a different story, that difference is wonderful and should be embraced.”

Guest Blog Post from Jac Tomlins

How’s that social isolation with the kids going? Jigsaw puzzles? Monopoly? Baking? Or, like me, have you given up the battle of the screens and embraced Netflix and You Tube and Minecraft. This is a marathon, not a sprint, I’ve decided and I’m cutting myself — and them — some slack.

But then, every now and again, I start to feel like a bad parent so I kick them off their devices and shove a book under their nose. It works for a while, but as a compromise, they’ve also been listening to a few audio books and that got me thinking…

It’s officially Mardi Gras season, and while some members of our community are working hard at the gym, for parents it’s a time to think about how we can talk to our kids about what Mardi Gras means.

We spoke to an expert in early childhood education, Dr Red Ruby Scarlet, Creative Director of Multiverse Educational Consultancy and Resourcing:

LGBTIQA+ is an acronym festooned with culture. So, like any culture, including it in your early childhood curriculum means thinking about how relationships are formed within communities.

In the early childhood curriculum, we value the ongoing work of connecting with community in ways that recognise the diversity of the families that are local to us as well as the families that we know are part of the broader Australian identity. 

GREAT BOOKS BRING US TOGETHER: Sharing a book together with your loved ones is a special time. It's a great way to bond and create beautiful memories together.

THE MEGA LIST: Diverse books reflecting our community are becoming more common for a wide range of age groups, so we have compiled a mega list of book suggestions aimed at a mixture of aged groups from birth to late teens.
You can Google the name and author to find out more about the book.

RECOMMEDATIONS: Perhaps you have discovered a great book and would like to recommend it to other families - send us a message on Facebook or Insta. @rainbowfamilies_au

BOOK REVIEWS: Please let us know or post a book review in our Rainbow Families Community Group on Facebook.

AUTHORS: And if you are an author of a diverity and inclusion book, reach out and we'll include you on our list :)

EARLY CHILDHOOD AUSTRALIA: This is a link to Early Childhood Australia's Family Diversity Resouces Packs. There are two, one is aimed at 0 to 3 years and the other is 3 to 6 years.

One of our favourite Drag Queens, and regular Drag Story Time host Hannah Conda talked to Junkee about why Drag Story Time is so important to her.

The fabulous Dr. Red Ruby Scarlet has been at it again. Talking all things queer in Early Childhood Education.

Check out her latest article published in Every Child Magazine last month. 

Download the article here.