So my little sister aged 5 is in a church school and I really don’t want religion influencing her too much. I really don’t want the house becoming even more conservative and I do intend on coming out eventually. I was a shitty person because of religion and I don’t want them to go through that too. I just want to be a good influence.
Anything I can do to prevent her becoming extremely bigoted?
Just keep being as open as you can and having conversations. Provide differing view points in a positive and open light. Make sure she sees other sides, talk things through, why do they hold that opinion? Kids are way more socially intelligent than we give them credit for and being able to have those conversations from a young age can help through all of life. Also provide data and sources, teach through example how to check your sources for bias. Five might be a little young for that but start early building good rational thinking skills.
How do I get her to see other sides while in the closet. I want to show our side before the church of sleezy bastards get a word in
Child accessible media - most modern animated shows for children have LGBTQ+ rep and will likely fly under the radar of even watchful parents. You can also have discussions with her to help frame things more appropriately if you’re around when someone presents a bigoted opinion you can make small remarks like ‘that doesn’t seem very loving to me’. You could also ask accepting religious denominations like the universal life church how to best help a kid, they probably have a bunch of resources available.
Any examples? She’s currently into most nick Jr and Disney Jr. She currently likes bluey. I need recommendations so I can start taking action. Parents aren’t very watchful
I’m no expert on children’s programming, but my partner likes watching it. Pro-LGBTQ+ shows (according to him) include Craig of the Creek, Stephen Universe, Adventure Time, and Owl House. Cartoon Network ends up being more loose about LGBTQ+ representation than Disney, though some shows on Disney have had a lot of wink-wink-this-is-queer stuff.
I would probably get into the habit of teaching her to question things she’s told. A big problem I faced as I got older is the unquestioning acceptance of blatantly false “truths” that took me a while to re-evaluate. Learning critical thinking goes a loooooong way.
Thanks. I am teaching then critical thinking.
I’m not particularly into children’s programming, but I’m sure there are plenty of other fellow queers in here who are and can make recommendations. Best of luck!
I’ve never personally watched Steven Universe, but my understanding (supported by my boyfriend who did watch it) is that the queer rep comes in three categories:
For that reason, Steven Universe might be an easier sell for conservative parents, especially for your sister. (I could see some parents getting upset at their son watching a “girly” show - presumably that’s not an issue for you here.)
I’ve watched all of Owl House and loved it. Spoilers below about the nature of the queer representation, for those who want to watch it (which I highly recommend!).
spoiler
The earliest representation I remember is a few episodes in where a mainish character mentions her two dads, which everyone treats as very normal. They don’t come up often, but you can’t forget about them either. Later on in the second season (I believe), the main character starts a same-gender relationship that continues to the end of the series and is much more visible on screen (hugging, kissing). I don’t remember the characters specifically talking about the queerness of the relationship very much, but they do come out as bi in a montage in season 3. Mentioning it because if your parents heavily monitor her media consumption, that might be a riskier bet.
Thank you. I hope I find some soon I need to start within the next month or so