Gloria Goes to Gay Pride

GLORIA GOES TO GAY PRIDE by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Russell Crocker: Alyson Publications, 1991, $7.95

Among the holidays that Gloria—who seems to be about five—celebrates are Halloween, Chanukah, and Gay Pride Day. Her Mama Grace holds a sign at the gay parade that says, “Gay Nurse Healing the Earth”; her Mama Rose’s sign proclaims, “Gay Mechanic Healing the Planet”; and Gloria’s own sigh (which she ) has made herself, declares, “I Love My Mommies.” Marching in the parade are lots of people Gloria knows—her female mail carrier, male music teacher, and Richard, a nurse who works with Mama Grace. There are also spectators who “aren’t singing or clapping,” and whose signs say, “Gays Go Away.”

“Why do they want us to go away?” Gloria asks, and the answer informs all of us.

A tender book for pre-schoolers (of heterosexual parents, too) about love, choice and freedom.