Mariko Tamaki hosts Who's Your Daddy? A Queer Parents Cabaret
When was the last time you heard a toe-tapping ditty about the hetro-normative bias of most children’s picture books? To celebrate the launch of editor and activist Rachel Epstein’s groundbreaking anthology, Who's Your Daddy?: And Other Writings On Queer Parenting (Sumach Press), celebrated writer and performer Mariko Tamaki will host Who's Your Daddy? A Queer Parents Cabaret. Contributors to the collection will perform songs, skits and scenes saluting the queer family unit in all its forms. Featured performers include Diane Flacks.
Who's Your Daddy?: And Other Writings On Queer Parenting is a groundbreaking collection of writing that brings vital and refreshing insights into current discussions about queer parenting, blending narrative and academic voices from Canada, the United States, England and Australia. The contributors are parents, prospective parents, writers, academics, lawyers, activists, health care professionals and — most significantly — queer spawn, the children of LGBTQ parents. The themes represented in these 40 essays include butches raising sons; queer youth as parents; trans experience in fertility clinics; legal and historical reflections; bisexuality and adoption; race relations in the family; heteronormativity in queer family kids' books; class issues within families; dealing with infertility; polyamory and parenting; discussions with sperm donors, single moms, gay dads; developments in reproductive technologies; rural and urban experience; and reflections on the meanings of biology and of “queer” parenting.
Editor and activist Rachel Epstein has assembled a timely and dynamic anthology that moves us away from the defensive position queer parents have historically been placed in — having to prove that we are “normal” and that our kids are “okay.” Instead, it offers a more honest exploration of the diversity that exists within queer families and a broader understanding of the complex issues that concern both queer parents and their children. These writings make a profound contribution to queer parenting discourse, looking at issues that have been previously unaddressed and introducing new and vibrant perspectives.
Who's Your Daddy? not only contains a wealth of information for new parents and those thinking of becoming parents but also provides invaluable information for counsellors, health care workers, social workers and human resource professionals. Website resources and recommended readings are provided and boxed information highlights support groups and organizations.
Rachel Epstein has been doing research, education and community organizing related to LGBTQ parenting for close to 20 years, and since 2001 has coordinated the LGBTQ Parenting Network at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to her ongoing research, Rachel works as a mediator with LGBTQ parents and prospective parents. She is co-parent to a fabulous 16-year-old girl and step-parent to an equally fabulous 23-year-old boy.
Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto-based writer and performer -- "a talented writer getting better and better," says Now magazine. She is the author of 
Cover Me, True Lies: A Book of Bad Advice, Fake ID, and Emiko Superstar, illustrated by indie comics legend Steve Rolston. Skim, the book that she created with illustrator Jillian Tamaki, is the first graphic novel ever to be nominated for a Governor General’s award.
Diane Flacks is a writer and performer. She is perhaps best known for her three hit solo shows, Myth Me, By A Thread and Random Acts. Flacks is a columnist for The Toronto Star. Her work has appeared in, amongst others, The Globe & Mail , Women’s Journal and Today’s Parent. Most recently, Flacks adapted her bestselling book Bear With Me…What They Don’t Tell You about Pregnancy and New Motherhood for the stage with Nightwood Theatre.
