Beyond Flags and Posts: Showing Up for Queer and Undocumented Families in Times of Fear

Every June, timelines fill with rainbows. Pride flags on logos, loving affirmations in captions, and hopeful hashtags remind us that queer people deserve dignity, joy, and safety.

But what does it mean to show up when Pride isn’t just a celebration, but also a protest? 

This Pride month, in an ever-changing political climate, as 2SLGBTQIA+ rights face renewed attack, and undocumented families live with heightened fear in the wake of LA deportation raids and political promises to gut equity programs, we’re reminded that a doula’s support is never separate from the systems our clients are navigating.

And for queer, trans, and undocumented birthing people, those systems are too often dangerous.

Birthworkers, It’s Time to Go Deeper

Supporting queer and undocumented families in birthwork. The families we support are not living in silos. Even if your client is housed, insured, and supported, their community may not be. Their friends may be targeted. Their chosen family may be facing deportation. They may be navigating birth with trauma, fear, or profound grief. If we don’t understand this, or if we offer only surface-level solidarity, we’re not really showing up.

It’s not enough to hang a Pride flag or post a graphic during Latinx Heritage Month. Here’s where real support begins:

1. Know the Policies That Impact Your Clients

Understand how recent legal shifts affect access to care, documentation requirements, travel safety, and mental health for queer and undocumented families. If you don’t know where to start, consider subscribing to policy trackers or partnering with community-based organizations who do.

2. Build Your Resource List — And Keep It Local

Keep an up-to-date list of affirming, low-barrier, multilingual providers — especially those offering care regardless of immigration status or insurance coverage. Think queer midwives, immigration lawyers, crisis lines, shelters, and doulas who speak a range of languages, including signing languages like ASL, LSM, and LSMY. Know who you can call, refer to, and count on when someone needs support fast.

3. Create Explicit Safety

Tell your clients what you know, what you don’t, and what you’re actively doing to protect them. Normalize asking about pronouns, chosen family, and safety concerns — not as an afterthought, but as a standard part of your intake and care. Trust is built in the small things: using gender-neutral forms, only asking for information you truly need, and understanding when not to ask about family planning details or government-issued ID.

4. Be Ready to Hold What’s Heavy

You don’t have to be a therapist, but you do need to understand trauma. Know that your client might be birthing while fearing a knock at the door. They may be nursing their baby while watching a community member get detained. Your calm presence matters — but so does your commitment to bearing witness and not turning away.

5. Stay Humble, Keep Learning

You will make mistakes. That’s not the problem. The problem is when we let our ego keep us from growing. Be open to feedback, seek out learning opportunities led by people with lived experience, and surround yourself with colleagues who will hold you accountable with care.

Pride is More Than a Month – and Care is More Than Comfort

Supporting queer and undocumented families in birthwork is more than affirmations. We need skills, resources, and deep awareness. We need to look inward and ask ourselves: Am I the kind of doula this family would feel safe calling?

This month, let’s recommit to becoming the kind of doulas our communities need — not just in June, but always.