Sponsor a book, receive or nominate someone to receive sponsored books
Plant a book in a Little Free Library (or somewhere else) in your community
Our Goal: Let’s distribute 3,000 books this summer.
As a wave of anti-trans legislation sweeps the country, queer people are seeing their identities erased.
Books are being removed from shelves. Pride flags are coming down from porches. People are talking less about who they are. This lack of visibility constitutes a crisis for a generation of queer people absorbing toxic messages about ourselves. So to mark Pride this year, let’s plan to spread visibility by distributing copies of The Family Outing as broadly as possible.
We’re going on a Little Free Library Road Trip!
Every June, my wife and I and our two kids road trip from Brooklyn to Florida, and then on to Mississippi, where we spend our summer. It’s a multi-day odyssey that takes us through ten states, many of which are reviewing legislation that is increasingly hostile to trans people—especially youth. This year, we plan to stop off in small towns along the way and leave copies of The Family Outing in as many Little Free Libraries as we can track down. You can follow our adventure on Instagram. And, you can leave copies of the book in your own Little Free Libraries and tell us about them here.
We want to give books away.
If you identify as a librarian, an educator or an activist, we’d like to send you a copy of the book. Our hope is that you will pass it along after you’ve finished. Give it to someone you love. Leave it in a local Starbucks. Make it available for someone else to find. You can request your copy via this confidential form, and we will mail the book in an unmarked package.
3 Ways You Can Help
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Join our team of Givers and Sponsor a Book
Sponsor a copy to share with others. Sign up here. We’ll direct the funds to independent booksellers and personally oversee the distribution of all books.
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Request Sponsored Book(S)
If you are an educator, a librarian or an activist working on behalf of queer people in your community, we want to send The Family Outing your way. Get copies onto the shelves of a resource center, into the hands of therapist working with LGBTQIA+ families, to members of a GSA or book club, or to a local non-profit or school. Request sponsored book(s) here.
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Plant copies of the book
Purchase a book to leave in a Little Free Library in your community. Post a photo of it on social media and tag me at @jessiwrites on Instagram. #thefamilyouting #spreadvisibility Then please tell us about it here.
Thank you gifters!
Jessi Hempel + Frances Clayton + Kyle Ranson-Walsh + Sarah & matt Storm + Nancy Chiller Janow + Kathy Howe + dave pond + lauren young + ANONYMOUS1 + james moed & damien hughes + kirk wheeler + morra aarons-mele + Ashley & Jack Reed + the michaelis family + david hornik + LISEN STROMBERG + HEIDI & DAMON LINDELOF + CHRISTINA H. + FRAN HAUSER +TRINA STORFER + Anonymous2 + iris M. + Anonymous 3 + Erica C. + Anonymous4 + Rachel Sklar + Leigh gallaghar + dave & gina Pell + samantha G. + Ashley R. + Anonymous5 + Anonymous6 + Liz D. + Samantha Tomaszewski + Andrew S. + Anonymous7 + maggie Thomas
#thefamilyouting #spreadvisibility
Follow along
learn more & do more:
Support The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention for LGBTQIA+ youth. Check out their guide on how to be an ally for transgender and nonbinary young people.
Learn about the rise of anti-trans bills right here. Find out what bills have been introduced where you live.