A day to celebrate all parents, including LGBTQ parents, in NC

There is Mother's Day and Father's Day, and now in North Carolina, a day to celebrate parents who fall outside that gender binary.

A state lawmaker is working to make North Carolina, once known nationally for HB2, more inclusive.

Rep. Vernetta Alston, a Durham Democrat, is one of few openly LGBTQ members of the General Assembly. She and her wife, Courtney, have two small children.

Gov. Roy Cooper signed a proclamation Friday that makes Dec. 6 Gender Expansive Parents' Day. Alston submitted the formal proclamation process this summer. The Dec. 6 date was chosen because it does not conflict with any other commemoration. And also, Alston "wanted to bring a little joy to 2020."

Making it an official day shows support for the LGBTQ community generally, she said in a phone interview Friday, but it also is about "recognizing we're a community that's diverse and ... to recognize specifically this subset of parents that can get lost in conversations about parenting."

To read more, head to the News and Observer.