WHEREAS, all parents, regardless of gestational relationship to a child, gender identity, or gender expression, deserve to be celebrated for the love and nurturing they give to their children; and
WHEREAS, at least two million children in the United States have a parent that identifies as LGBTQ; more than 400,000 children have a foster parent that identifies as LGBTQ; and
WHEREAS, LGBTQ people are six times more likely to foster children and four times more likely to adopt children into their families; and
WHEREAS, increasingly, many of these LGBTQ parents also exist outside a traditional gender binary; and
WHEREAS, terms likenon-binary, gender expansive, and agender are used to describe a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine; and
WHEREAS, parenting for those who do not identify as mothers or fathers can be isolating due to lack of public parenting communities, adequate parenting support systems, healthcare disparities, and legal discrimination in adoption and child custody; and
WHEREAS, recognition of the work and sacrifice of non-binary, agender, and other gender expansive parents, as well as that of other non-traditional primary caregivers, is key to our efforts to create a more inclusive State; and
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina recognizes any supportive relationship that a child has with their parent and honors gender expansive parents;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim December 6, 2020, as “GENDER EXPANSIVE PARENTS' DAY” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.