Hello, and welcome!

If you found this page

because you love your kid, 

or because you're trying to learn 

how to love them better, 

you’re in the right place.

My name is Kathleen. 

And I’m a straight, Gen-X widow 

raising two LGBTQ kids.

I got here after almost a decade 

inside grief, loss, and rebuilding.

I lost both of my parents 

and my best friend 

in a three-year span 

leading up to the pandemic; 

then, in 2021, 

I lost my husband to COVID. 

After that, 

I lost relationships I thought would last, 

but couldn’t survive my growth … 

all while learning how 

to keep showing up as a mom 

in a world that often misunderstands queer kids. 

(Sigh, it’s been a lot.)

I didn’t start this work 

because I wanted to become an advocate. 

I started because 

I wanted to be the parent my kids needed… 

and I realized how many other parents

were standing exactly where I once stood: 

Loving fiercely

Feeling afraid of getting it wrong

Navigating faith tension, 

culture pressure, or family conflict, and

Wanting to protect their kids, but were unsure how.

At one point, 

I even dreamed about 

building a physical space to support 

displaced queer and foster youth: 

a huge, beautiful vision that’s still doable, 

but years away.

Then a simpler, more urgent question 

changed everything:

What if I could get to the queer kids 

BEFORE they were displaced? 

Which then led me to ask …

What if the way we protect queer youth 

isn’t by rescuing kids, 

but by growing parents?

Because the people with the most power 

over a child’s safety 

aren’t who we think they are.

It’s not the police. It isn’t social media, 

or even our culture as a whole. 

It’s us. 

The parents, 

the caregivers … 

the adults in their lives.

So, I created Rainbow Roots.

Rainbow Roots exists for parents who

didn’t grow up with the tools for this.

A lot of us were raised on 

“walk it off,”

“don’t talk about feelings,”

and “let’s never discuss this again.”

(And you know who you are. 

Because I’m one of you.)

Which means a lot of parents and caregivers

are now trying to use methods 

and/or systems that barely worked in 1986 

to parent their kids in 2026. 

That is so wild to me 

because in 1986, 

our parents had to be reminded nightly 

by Dan Rather, Cyndi Lauper, Andy Warhol, 

and the original Wonder Woman herself, 

Lynda Carter, 

to make sure we were in the house 

by asking the question, 

“It’s 10:00pm. Do you know where your children are?”!

Anyhoo,

This space isn’t just for people 

who already feel confident 

or progressive 

or “ready.”

It’s also for parents who come from 

conservative or faith-based backgrounds… 

parents who care deeply 

but may feel unsure, conflicted, 

or even scared to walk into spaces like this.

You don’t have to arrive with 

the perfect language or “perfect beliefs.” 

Because this isn’t a perfect space: 

It’s a learning-out-loud space.

And I want to be really clear about something 

from the very beginning:

Rainbow Roots is not a debate stage. 

We don’t question whether LGBTQ people 

deserve dignity or safety. 

That question is already settled here.

We don’t platform harassment, 

dehumanization, 

or misinformation of any kind. 

We’ll always place child well-being 

above adult ideological comfort.

Boundaries come before debates here

every single time.

This space is also intentionally 

neurodivergent- 

and disability-inclusive, 

with captions on all videos 

uploaded from a script, 

sensory-considerate pacing, 

and content created for 

the many different kinds of brains 

that live inside real families.

That’s also why 

you’ll hear me speak 

a little more slowly here, 

because accessibility isn’t an afterthought; 

it’s part of how we practice care. 

So if my “Gen X pauses” 

are a bit much for you, 

please consider long-pressing 

on the space to the right of my face 

to speed up the video.

I promise to not be offended LOL.

Additionally, 

the work we’re doing here isn’t political. 

It’s parental. 

And we don’t ask queer kids to

explain themselves, 

defend themselves, 

or carry the emotional weight 

of educating adults.

We help parents do the growing, 

so kids don’t have to.

So whether you’re brand new to this journey 

or still finding your footing. 

Welcome.

You’re not late. 

You’re not failing. 

And you don’t have to be perfect to belong here.

That’s all for now. 

And please don’t forget 

to take good care of yourself today.