5. Quotes and Simple Answers
Contributions from members of Little Rainbows Youth Advisory Council
The best thing about growing up in my family is that if one parent says no, there are three other parents to ask! – Zela
As I got older, I started dropping my family structure into conversations more frequently. I would say to others, “I’m going to see my dads this weekend,” and then I would get a “what??!” back from them. – Mikayla
Sometimes my friends ask how I have two mums and two dads. I just tell them that my mums wanted to have a baby but they needed a dad so they asked my dad and he and his partner said yes. It’s pretty simple to explain. – Zela
Sometimes people ask me which mum is which or they ask if I’m talking about my mum who used to be a boy or the mum who is my natural mum. – Gemma
While I was growing up, I didn’t realise my family was any different from other families. I think it’s fun to tell people about my family and to see their different reactions. – Joel
When I was younger, I only ever knew two other LGBTQ+ families. It was never really an issue for me at school. I definitely have the memory of people asking about it, but no-one had a problem. People were curious. Lots of questions like: “What do you call them?”; “Which one is your birth mum?”; “Do you know your father?”; “How were you created?”; and questions about my half siblings. – Molly
I am very fulfilled with my family and knowing who my family is. – Molly
It’s sometimes quite hard for me to explain my family. When people think of rainbow families, they mostly think of the classic two mums or two dads. But it’s a bit more complicated than that for me and people don’t always understand my family until I explain it really carefully. – Lars
The most important thing about families is that everyone loves each other. – Lionel
I have two mums and two dads and an older sister and lots of grandparents and cousins. My family is fun and they make me laugh. – Lionel
In my family, I’ve got two dads, a brother, my pets and me. I never really have to explain to anyone why I have two dads. It’s normal to have two dads. - Riley
We do lots of things with Rainbow Families. I like the lollipops at Fair Day. – Stella
I was born in India. My parents wanted to have children so they needed help with surrogacy. We once went to India for a holiday, it was big and beautiful. We ate lots of spicy curry. I have some saris from India. – Stella
Dad and I went to Canberra with Rainbow Families to ask for marriage equality. We went to Parliament House. It was a bit boring. My papa and dad got married after marriage equality. – Stella