The holidays go hand and hand with family. Stories, movies, television - they are all jammed packed this time of year with stories of happy families learning a valuable lesson during the holiday season. But it reminds me that many of my friends who are LGBTQ are unable to enjoy the holiday season with their family. Their families have rejected them - booted them out, and told them never to come home. For some, family is not a safe place to be. Or it is not a place where they can be who they really are - unless they are wearing a lie, they can’t go home.

But there is an upside to this. The resiliency of those who are in the LGBTQ community. Many of us create our own families. Friends, mentors, significant others, and partners. We knit together families of our own design - those who love us, support us, and most importantly accept and may actually understand us. People who have been through similar trials. So we still spend our holidays surrounded by loved ones - with laughter, joy, and a mutual sense of caring.

The holidays are about family. But not always the biological one.