The Domestic Bliss of LGBT, Modern Families

By Alex Temblador

“Domestic bliss” brings up thoughts of family. For some, the idea dates back to something from the 1950s, a notion that Leave It to Beaver was keen on showing each week–a happy mother, happy father, and happy kids. Today, domestic bliss most readily means, happiness in the home or happiness within one’s family.

That being said, domestic bliss has long been portrayed in the media by using only one type of family. Usually this family is straight, white, and well to-do. Sometimes it differs and includes families that have came together through adoption just like in the Domestic Bliss spread in W Magazine with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Despite that, there haven’t been historically many LGBT families that are represented in the media or online in terms of “domestic bliss.”
Here at The Next Family, we are going to change that. We are going to share photographs of families like yours in their domestic bliss. Why? Domestic bliss should no longer be presented with just a single type of visual image of a family because family can no longer be visualized in one way. There are LGBT families, interracial families, single-parent families, multi-generational families, blended families, adopted families, and sometimes families that are a combination of these.

A few years ago, editor-in-chief Brandy Black created a domestic bliss spread with her wife, Susan, and kids that was inspired by the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Domestic Bliss spread. Her reason for doing this: “I wanted to normalize the aspect of seeing LGBT families in the media and make LGBT families proud of who they are and what they look like.”

We encourage you to share your domestic bliss with us on social media. Tag us on Instagram with #thenextfamily and #domesticbliss or send us your photos on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. We want to show the world what domestic bliss looks like in modern families so that children and families can grow happier in a world that makes all families proud of who they are what they look like.