Morgan Baskin basks in her big, loud, queer family

It’s not often that we get warm fuzzies from Toronto politicians.

In a blog post, former mayoral candidate Morgan Baskin shares how, during the election, her family became a topic of discussion.

Her big, loud, certifiably queer family: four parents (three of whom identify as queer), three sets of grandparents, births, adoptions, friends, new marriages, old ones, separations . . . it exhausts me just imagining a holiday dinner chez Baskin.

I’m a big fan of the concept of chosen family; of rejecting the idea of the “traditional” dad-plus-mom-plus-2.5-kids family. Baskin’s words of wisdom are, basically, create your own:

“The thing about non-traditional families is that as normal as you think your family might be, it’s probably only your normal,” she writes. “Many families have family friends who are now just family. Many families have adoptions and ‘step’ parents or siblings. As they said in James and the Giant Peach, above all else, family is kind.”