Little Rainbows
Developing a resource to help young people from LGTBQ+ families connect and celebrate their diversity
Our Vision
Young people living in families with LGBTQ+ parents and carers can often experience isolation from their peers and the public. This project aims to connect young people with other rainbow families, and to value and celebrate the diversity in these families. The Little Rainbows project stems from a need within the LGBTQ+ family community for a resource to support young people in these families to navigate and communicate their family dynamics to other families. The project is a collaboration between researchers, young people from rainbow families and LGBTQ+ advocates. The resource was developed for young people by young people with a lived experience of what it means to grow up in a rainbow family. The contributions of young people are essential to this project, as they share what they found challenging and what worked for them.
Our Project Plan
We undertook a series of workshops with young people to brainstorm the content that would be included in the resource. Young people’s strong guidance was that the resource should share stories about different kinds of rainbow families. Working alongside the Coordinator of the Rainbow Families Youth Council, we conducted a series of interviews with young people from LGBTQ+ families. The young people shared their stories of resilience, creating connections, celebrating their diversity, and explaining their family identity to their peers and community.
What Impact will this research have?
The resource has been released in soft and hard copy, enabling children and their rainbow families to learn from the experiences of other families in order to create solidarity and enhance the sense of community.
The resource will be updated periodically with plans to grow and diversify the content of the resource, to celebrate the diversity of rainbow families, reach a larger audience and help to strengthen the community.
Outputs
This project team developed an online and print-based resource for young people with LGBTQ+ parents and carers to help them connect with and celebrate the diversity in their lives. The resource 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 is suitable for them and their families.
The Little Rainbows resource is now available online.
Collaboration team
This research is a partnership between the Young and Resilient Research Centre and Rainbow Families, a charity organisation that supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ families.
Internal collaborators
External collaborators
Funding
This resource was developed with funding from the Aurora Group, and with in-kind support from the Young and Resilient Research Centre.
Streams
Health and Wellbeing and Participation and Engagement
Period
March 2021 – October 2022
Contact: If you would like to get in contact with the Little Rainbow team, please email a.third@westernsydney.edu.au.
