I smiled as I saw my friend’s kindergartener running towards me waving the trans rights flag of pink, blue, and white. While she may have known what it stood for – her parents are supportive of trans folks – I suspect she was just happy to have a flag. But I was also heartened that the organization supporting LBGTQ+ youth had a prominent booth in-between the kids area and the carnival rides at our city’s big festival. It was impossible to miss, with all of the lovely rainbow decorations. When we stopped by the booth, we picked up a rainbow peace sign necklace.

For the most part, LGBTQ+ folks are an ordinary part of our community. My older son had twin sisters with two dads in his preschool class. He’s probably had other classmates with two moms or dads and I just wasn’t aware of it. Our town square is having a Pride event next weekend. The school and public library both have a bunch of children’s picture books that reflect families with same-sex parents and trans parents and children. One of our church’s regular volunteers is trans and the congregation supported her transition wholeheartedly.

But this welcome is far from universal. Someone running for our school board ran on a platform of “protecting the children.” While their website was a bit squirrely about what exactly they meant by that, you could read between the lines. A local activist also pointed out that they had a leadership position in a strongly homophobic church. The other day, I noticed my county trending on Twitter. There were protests at the school board for having an inclusive curriculum that has books on LGBTQ+ families and relationships.

And all of this is despite the fact (or in part because of the fact) that my state just became a trans sanctuary state. It’s a reminder that these policies can change so fast and are so tenuous. Even if most people are welcoming, just a few can make a place actively dangerous. We can’t sit on our laurels and tsk tsk places that are unsafe. In fact, I told my older son at the table, “Some states are getting unsafe for trans kids. Like they can be taken away from their parents, which is really scary. So we have to support them.”

All children deserve to be loved and be safe. All children deserve to have their families respected and represented. Even if you aren’t LGBTQ+, you don’t know if your kid is or their friends or your neighbor kids. Even in places that seem “safe,” all of us – whether we are LGBTQ+ or not – need to fight hard for that safety and love that all kids and families deserve. Pride started with a revolutionary act – let’s keep it that way.