Over the past couple of years, a dedicated group of young people from Rainbow Families has been working on an exciting new resource for young people by young people.
The Rainbow Families Youth Advisory Council created this resource in hopes that other children of Rainbow Families can feel connected and celebrate the diversity in our lives. This resource includes stories of children and young people living in rainbow families, ways they’ve dealt with different challenges, and suggestions about how we can all be authentic with our loved ones by our side.
The Little Rainbows project stems from a need within the LGBTQ+ family community for a resource to support young people in Rainbow Families navigating and communicating their family dynamics to people outside the community. The project is a collaboration between researchers, young people from rainbow families and LGBTQ+ advocates. The resource was developed for young people with a lived experience of what it means to grow up with LGBTQ+ parents.
Rainbow Families Executive Officer Ashley Scott explains how the group came about – “Our Youth Advisory Council is a special place within the community for young people to connect with other people from diverse families. Our Youth Advisory Council started after we fought for and won marriage equality. Passionate and engaged young people were actively involved in the marriage equality campaign. While their parents were emotionally exhausted, these young people were looking forward to continuing the momentum they have been part of.”
“The Youth Advisory Council identified a need within their community – support for children and young people with LGBTQ+ parents and have worked hard to create this beautiful resource to help other kids see that family diversity is something to be celebrated.”
Little Rainbows offers advice on how to deal with some of the challenges of belonging to a rainbow family, as well as recommendations on how to be authentic about their experiences, values and the people they love. This project aims to connect young people from LGBTQ+ families with other rainbow families in a respectful and empowering manner that suits them and their families.
The project is a partnership between the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney Uni and Rainbow Families. This charity organisation supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ families and was funded by The Aurora Group and with in-kind support from the Young and Resilient Research Centre.
The Little Rainbows resource is now available online at https://www.rainbowfamilies.com.au/little_rainbows
