From the Olympics to Capitol Hill, gay dads and their families made some major waves in 2021. Here are some of the most important moments for gay dads from 2021:
Sec. Buttigieg is First Senate-confirmed Gay Dad
The 39-year-old U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is not only the first openly gay man to be confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet position, he's also now the first gay dad. Buttigieg posted a photo of himself and his husband Chasten in September each cradling one of their children; a son and a daughter. He later talked about the ever-important issue of family leave, while gently clapping back at Fox News host Tucker Carlson for one of his famously ignorant comments. "I guess he just doesn't understand the concept of bottle feeding, let alone the concept of paternity leave," Buttigieg said. Read More...
Michigan Dads Welcome Identical Triplets via Altruistic Surrogacy
It was a rare and beautiful start to parenthood this year for Ohio husbands Kevin O’Neill and Eric Portenga. "Are you guys sitting down?" the doctor asked. "There's something else here." In September, the dads introduced the world to their identical triplet daughters, Parker, Robin and Sylvie O’Neill, who were born via cesarean section at Cleveland Clinic Akron General in Ohio. Read More...
'NSYNC Singer Lance Bass, Michael Turchin Welcome Twins
Baby hi hi hi! 'NSYNC star Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin officially announced the birth of their twins in early October. The couple’s daughter Violet Betty and son Alexander James were born via surrogate at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Bass and Turchin, who have been married since 2014, went through a difficult four years trying to start their family, which included issues finding egg donors, nearly a dozen rounds of IVF, and a surrogate suffering a miscarriage. Read More...
Gay Dads, Daughter Die in Florida Condo Collapse
A tragedy in Miami claimed the lives of two gay dads and their young daughter in June. Following a 12-story condominium collapse, authorities confirmed the list of those unaccounted for included 55-year-old Fabián Núñez, a plastic surgeon from Argentina, his 45-year-old husband Andrés Galfrascoli, a theater director, and their recently adopted 6-year-old daughter Sofía. Read More...
Forty Years Since the Start of the AIDS Epidemic, One Son Remembers His Dads’ Final Days
Noel and his brother were born into foster care in 1988 and 1987, respectively. When they were about a year old, they were adopted by Steven and Louis, two HIV-positive men living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, during the height of the AIDS epidemic. On the 40th anniversary of the epidemic, Noel reflects on his fathers' lives. “My dads always knew they were going to die,” Noel says. “That’s why they took so many photographs and recorded so many videos.” Read More...
Gay Dads Queer’d the Olympics
This summer, two gay dads swam into the spotlight at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. British Olympic diver and gay dad of one Tom Daley took home a gold medal for his country. Daley also released a new book about the stresses he feels as a gay dad in the spotlight. Read More.... And 22-year-old U.S. Olympic diver Jordan Windle told the world that his success was all down to his gay dad Jerry, who had adopted him from Cambodia as a single dad. Read More...
The Triumphant Return of Gay Christmas
The gay dad community really pulled out all the stops for this year's Halloween costumes. It's safe to say that the GWK community knows how to dress to impress. This year our GWK Halloween Costume Contest winner was decided by votes from our panel of gay dad judges. And 2021's winners were Walt and Brian from Maplewood, New Jersey, whose family wowed us with their DIY twist on a classic with their Steampunk Wizard of Oz Witch Hunter costumes. Read More...
