Love Makes a Family [Paperback]

Peggy Gillespie (Author), Kath Weston (Author), Gigi Kaeser (Author), April Martin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This collection of informal family portraits and interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) parents and their children grew out of a photo exhibit created by photographer Kaeser. Myriad family configurations are presented: gay and lesbian couples, divorced lesbians coparenting, single parents, transgendered parents, and stepparents and their children. From text accompanying the photographs, we learn who these people consider family and why as they speak about their feelings and experiences as part of an LGBT family. The interviews reveal many of the same joys and struggles as found in other families in addition to the challenges of being an LGBT family in a predominantly heterosexual world. Most enlightening are the children's words; some tell of teasing and hostility directed toward them because of their family, while others simply state that they have two moms or two dads and a family is the people who love you. Recommended for all public libraries.ADebra Moore, Loyola Marymount Univ. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The newest picture book about human relationships (Kelsh and Quindlen's Siblings is a recent shining example of the type) focuses on families in which the parents are lesbians, gay men, or transgendered persons, and the children are either offspring of one of the parents or adopted or foster children of one or both parents. Adding further diversity are biracial couples; parents and children of different races; children with impairments; and families that include nonresident members (e.g., a parent's grandfather in one case, the other biological parent in others). In the manner of this kind of book, photoportraits accompany statements by those portrayed (except for tiny tots). The thrust of the whole project is that these good families differ from those of analogous heterosexual parents only in that they do or may suffer from antigay social attitudes and antigay public policies. The book complements a four-year-old traveling exhibition that comes in two versions: one for elementary-school students, the other for teenagers and adults. Ray Olson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558491619
• ISBN-13: 978-1558491618
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Bisexuality

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, Very Surprising, January 25, 2000

By 

David Vasquez (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Parents and Their Families (Hardcover)

What I enjoyed about this book is that it covered not only the people like me (gay, male, plans to have children), but it also gave me an insight into some others who have very different lives but the same issues of "alternative-ness." It actually contained a few surprises and gave me some ideas about how a family could be built from things I'd never considered before.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic, July 17, 1999

By 

E. A Whited "ewhited" (usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Parents and Their Families (Hardcover)

a look into the lives of different people. it makes one think that one in simular cercumstances is not alone.A infomative book that shows real people in real lives. well done!! It does need though, more family portrates of transgendered people. Im glad I waited over two monthes for this book.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Book from FAMILY DIVERSITY PROJECTS, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Love Makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Parents and Their Families (Hardcover)

"If an image is worth a thousand words, then Love Makes a Family, a book of photographs by Gigi Kaeser, edited by Peggy Gillespie, speaks for itself. The book's vivid black and white photographs and personal stories send a powerful message about diversity in America. Together, the images and text challenge heterosexual assumptions and stereotypes. With more than 40 family portraits and personal interviews, the book captures the essence and experiences of Lesbian, Gay, bisexual and transgender families of all kinds..." -Terrance Lee Pitts, Washington Blade, June ll, 1999