This segment is brought to you by Jp Morgan Chase,
advancing equality for the LGBT Q Plus
community and celebrating pride all year long.
Well, as we celebrate Pride Month,
we want to highlight voices that are leading
the conversation on equality and inclusion for all.
And my next guest is the author of a recent
release children's book called Dad and Daddy's Big Big Family,
which celebrates diversity in the family unit and beyond.
So I'm joined now by the author Seamus Kurt.
Uh Seamus, thanks so much for joining. Thank you so much for having me.
Really excited to be here. We're so happy to have you.
What inspired you to write this book?
Yeah.
So I wrote my first children's book in 2018 and it came out in
2020 and it was very specifically about an LGBT Q family and like talked about
the fact that the main character had two dads.
So with this book, I really wanted to write one that kind of had a matter of fact,
representation of a queer family.
And that also showed kind of how different nuclear families can be within
an extended family so that everyone can see themselves reflected in the book.
I like that. Let's talk about the takeaway for kids.
Obviously, you just kind of walk through some of that with the inspiration as well.
But
what's the message that you want these Children
to leave with after they finish the book?
Yeah.
So the book kind of explores the question of what makes a family and it's kind of
through a silly mechanism of the main character thinking
that family are the people you live with.
So she goes to this big family reunion and she's kind of
freaking out about how they're going to fit everyone into their,
you know, three bedroom house.
And so through that premise,
it kind of explores like how you define who your family is and
how that can be people you're related to or people you choose.
And at the end of the day, it's just a group of people who care about it each other.
Do you wish that some of these themes that you address
in the book would have been themes that were more commonplace,
more openly discussed when you were growing up?
Yeah, I do. And I think that
it's just so nice to be able to put books out that like
really just a matter of fact to have two dads because I don't remember
reading a single book that had same sex parents when I was a kid,
even though Heather has two mommies and books like that did exist I don't remember
reading them in school or at a story time or,
I mean, and my parents are like, very inclusive,
progressive people and we didn't even have those in our house.
So I think it's really exciting how many of these books
are coming out now.
Absolutely. Conversation is a first step. Right. Yes.
And especially, you know, with the book bands that are happening exponentially,
it's kind of feels really important to me to
write books that can push back against that.
So let's talk more about that because
we've seen conservative states as you reference,
ban books with LGBTQ plus representation.
Why do you think that's harmful?
I think it's harmful because it's an attempt to erase an entire group of people.
And especially when these book bans are happening in schools, like in every school,
statistically, there are LGBTQ students,
LGBTQ teachers and students of LGBTQ parents.
So basically, when these bans are happening in a school or a public library,
you're telling people
that their existence is taboo.
And I think that's so harmful
of a message for anyone to hear, let alone a child.
And
it's disturbing and
yeah,
just like the sheer number of those bands is disturbing.
Like the fact that from 2021 to 2022
they essentially doubled.
I think it's a really important moment for everyone
who knows that those are wrong to like stand
up and do whatever they can to push back
against them where can viewers find your book?
Yeah.
So I encourage viewers to find my
book at their favorite local independent bookstore,
but it's also available wherever books are sold,
including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Seamus. Congratulations. And thank you for joining me.
Thank you so much for having me. Here's a live look, there was a look at the book cover
Seas.
We appreciate it. Thank you,
JP Morgan Chase is committed to supporting the LGBT
Q plus community and advancing financial equality for all.
Visit JP Morgan chase dot com slash LGBT Q to learn more.