Day 28. Queer Families and Chosen Kinship.

Family is more than bloodlines. It is love, resilience, and belonging. For queer and Indigenous communities, survival has always depended on reimagining kinship. Chosen family, extended kin networks, and collective care have sustained people when institutions excluded or harmed them.

Across Turtle Island and beyond, Indigenous kinship systems remind us that family is expansive, not limited to the nuclear household. In the same way, queer people have built webs of care that nurture healing, joy, and interdependence. Together, they teach us that community is a verb, something we create, nurture, and protect.

Stories of Kinship and Care

Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer families are restoring balance between ancestry and future, blending traditional teachings with new ways of loving and raising children. Their care models reflect reciprocity and collective strength, reminding us that kinship is an act of sovereignty.
In the ballroom community, chosen families known as “houses” were created when mainstream society offered no safety. These houses became schools of artistry, resilience, and survival where mentorship and unconditional love shaped generations of queer and trans youth.
Today, mutual aid networks, queer parenting groups, and Indigenous kinship circles continue this legacy. Whether through shared meals, childcare co-ops, or online support spaces, they show that care is both resistance and ceremony.

“Family is the circle we choose, the people who see us whole and hold us even when the world does not.” – Anonymous

Learn More

Family Equality – A national nonprofit working to advance legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families and those who wish to form them.
The Trevor Project – The leading organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ+ youth.
Native Youth Sexual Health Network – An organization by and for Indigenous youth that advocates for reproductive and sexual health, rights, and justice across Turtle Island.
House Lives Matter – A campaign and resource hub uplifting the voices and leadership of Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ ballroom community members while addressing health and housing inequities.