My 11-month-old learned to clap the other day. I was in the middle of changing his diaper when suddenly he looked at his hands with wide eyes like he had never seen them before.

He smacked them together, and when he realized doing so made a sound, he smiled with his whole face. His forehead and nose crinkled, and his lips curled up to reveal his eight tiny teeth. He did it again and giggled.

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He couldn’t believe this brand-new thing he had discovered. When I did it back, his eyes widened. I could see him working through the shock. How on earth did I know about clapping, too?

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A few years back, I never would have believed someone who told me that one day, watching someone learn to smack their hands together would become one of the most cherished moments of my life.

And now, as I watch my kids grow and their curiosity bloom, I feel just like my little guy thinking he was the very first person ever to discover he could make music with his hands. I mean, do people realize how incredible it is to watch tiny babies transform into chatty toddlers? Do they get how it feels when your baby says “I love you” for the first time? Do they know about the hugs? What about the euphoria of seeing that first smile? Could anyone else ever comprehend the magic of these moments, the depth of the love? I may just be discovering it for the first time.

While millions of people become mothers every year, becoming one yourself somehow feels like joining the most exclusive club. It feels like you’re unearthing something no one ever has, like no one could ever possibly have done or felt what you are currently doing or feeling. And in some ways, that’s true. Every mother’s journey is uniquely theirs while at the same time being wholeheartedly universal.

There is nothing in this world that compares to being a mother – and I mean that literally. It is impossible to compare it to anything else, the highs, the lows, the all-consuming love, the kind of exhaustion you didn’t know existed, the guilt, the laughter, the mess, the silliness, the chaos, the hugs, the logistics, the joy, the joy, the joy.

The May Edition of LGBTQ Nation is an ode to queer moms and to the many ways queer people come to inhabit the role of mother.

This issue celebrates queer women who are raising children together, queer women who are raising kids alone; queer women who are raising kids with men, and queer women who are raising kids while not even fully defining themselves as women at all.

There is no one way to be a mom, and what makes queer motherhood so special is the inherent creativity involved in it. Queer folks have long been forging their own definitions of family, adding texture to a world that would frankly be quite boring without us.

In this edition, you will hear from trans moms, bisexual moms, nonbinary moms, and lesbian moms. You will hear from married moms, single moms, and drag moms. You will learn about everything from the ins and outs of building a relationship with your child’s donor to the simple and unadulterated joy of successfully teaching your child to blow their nose. All of it matters, and all of it is heroic.

This edition shows that none of us is alone, but also that all of our experiences deserve their own space to be honored.

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