Western Massachusetts author Sarah Prager delves into the rich, global history of the LGBTQIA+ community in the beginning of her book, “A Child's Introduction to Pride.”
Prager uses ancient records and oral histories to give a detailed account of queer identities in many cultures. Prager said history is often taught from a western, white, 20th century perspective.
Sarah Prager, author: People outside of what is now called the gender binary have existed for all of human history. And [they] have often been seen as not only normal but revered, honored and special spiritual leaders and gifts — in one society called "jewels." This was common in Indigenous communities around the world and still is in Indigenous communities.
So, it's so important not only for trans people to know that history, but for everyone, so that we don't buy into these myths that queer history starts in the 20th century.
Nirvani Williams, NEPM: Absolutely. What was your process like compiling all of this research and history for a children's book?
I have compiled this information for my previous books. So much of the research I have done over the previous seven years, and a lot of it I was just able to just write off the top of my head almost, and then get the citations and kind of fill in the blanks after my first draft of knowing what I wanted to say.
How are you hoping kids and parents interact with the content in the book? There are these very long sections that, at first, when I was reading it, I was like, wow, this is great for just adults even.
Yeah. So I think it's a great book for adults to jump in on and learn with their kids or their students. It's not just the history that we've talked about, but the first fifth of the book is about what is coming out, what are pronouns, and things that kids come across in school and life. Kids are interacting with classmates and friends that they're ready to use gender-neutral pronouns with.
In recent news, the Supreme Court issued a decision to limit protections for LGBTQIA+ people when they seek business services. How do you feel about this decision and how would you approach talking to younger people about this?
SP: I think the rollback of queer rights that's been happening in recent years is terrifying. However, it is also something that we've seen, as a pendulum, swing back and forth in history before. And I do believe that we'll see progress again. Queer people, trans people are resilient and have come together as a community to find ways to survive and thrive in the face of these rollbacks of rights before.
And that is something that is shown in this book as well. That last section is opening up the questions of: Why is it important to speak up for what's fair? And what are the things that you can do? What is the activism that you've seen in this book of what other people have done?
I think young people have an important role to play in this movement. And since this is for older kids who are coming into their adolescence, finding out who you are is finding out if you're going to be speaking up for fairness in the world [and it] is an important part of your identity to start discovering.
