Queer with Kids aims to help connect LGBTQ parents in Hamilton
It was during the pandemic that Hamilton parent Amanda Worthington came out fully" to family and friends. She also fell in love with her best friend.
During the first lockdown, I realized that I'm one hundred per cent gay. I'm not bisexual, which I thought I was for a long time," she said. And I started exploring my sexuality more."
Realizing the challenges of meeting other parents - especially with in-person socialization drastically reduced - the 37-year-old mother launched Queer with Kids, a community group that aims to connect queer parents in the city.
It's hard enough as a parent to make friends because you're limited to how much socializing you can do already, and then meeting queer parents is even harder," she said.
The idea was inspired by the Hamilton's Fruit Salad, a community of LGBTQ women and gender-non-conforming people that hosts get-togethers in the city.
It's really hard for parents to make it out to those types of events because of their kids," she said. I wanted to create a place where parents could come together and share parenting tips and different life experiences."
Last year in June, Worthington began to create virtual spaces on Facebook and Instagram, which she reignited at the end of January. She hopes to start hosting in-person events for queer parents as pandemic restrictions ease.
Worthington, who grew up in Hamilton, moved back to Ontario in 2018 after separating from her husband.
It was the best decision I ever made in my life to leave Alberta, and it was crazy, crazy, hard," she said. I'm super proud."
Worthington said she and her now-partner, Romina Benavides, are late to lesbian" - the name given to a community of women who discover their sexuality later in life.
The pair met at their kids' Hamilton school in 2018 and quickly became best friends.
We ... realized that when we were telling each other I love you' every day at the end of the day, it was more than friendship," Worthington said. She left her marriage and we started dating and she moved in."
Worthington and her partner each have two kids, all between the ages of three and eight.
We're blending a family," she said. I've never been happier."
Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com