08/18/2026
Hugs to all the parents of LGBTQ+ kids sending their kids to college this year.
You spend years teaching your child how to move through the world.
Then one day, the bags are packed, the dorm room is waiting, and it is time to trust them with everything you have taught them.
Sending a child to college is emotional. We are proud, excited, worried, sentimental, hopeful — and sometimes all of those things within the same ten minutes.
But when your child is LGBTQ+, there can be another layer to letting go.
You aren’t only wondering whether they’ll like their roommate, find their classes, make friends, or remember to eat something besides cereal.
You may also be wondering:
Will people respect their name and pronouns?
Will they find friends who fully accept them?
Will their professors and campus leaders make them feel safe and valued?
Will they know where to turn if someone mistreats them?
Will they remember that they never have to shrink, hide, or apologize for who they are?
Because we are sending our children into a world that is still debating their worth, questioning their identities, and trying to take away some of their rights.
And that makes letting go feel especially complicated.
Still, underneath all that worry is something powerful: pride.
Pride in the courage it has taken for our children to become who they are.
Pride in everything they have already overcome.
Pride in the beautiful, capable people they are becoming.
So, Mama Bear, cry when you need to. Check in — but give them room to grow. Make sure they know how to reach you, and remind them often that home will always be a place where they are loved, affirmed, and safe.
You raised them to know who they are.
You taught them that they are loved, seen, worthy, cherished, and enough.
Now comes the hard and beautiful part: watching them carry that truth into the world.
To every Mama Bear sending an LGBTQ+ child to college this year — we see you. We know how proud you are, how much you will miss them, and how fiercely you will continue loving them from wherever you are.
And to every LGBTQ+ student beginning this new chapter:
You belong there.
You deserve to take up space.
You never have to prove your worth or validity to anyone.
Go build a life that feels like your own. We’ll be right here, cheering you on.
Together, we can change the world.
