01/27/2026
This week is Week Two of Side With Love's 30 Days of Love - Grounding In Context!
To begin, here is a reflection written by Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, UUA Congregational Justice Organizer:
Becoming parents was no small decision or task for myself and my spouse. We live at the intersections of some very real privileges and challenges. On the one hand, we are a q***r couple, so the ways we could expand our family necessitated medical and legal proceedings that disproportionately impact families like ours. But we were also privileged enough to have access to insurance and providers in a state that made it affordable and safe to grow our family when the time was right. And it was not lost on us that we were at the height of our efforts to have a baby when the Dobbs decision came down in 2022, dealing a horrific blow to the reproductive justice movement that had made families like ours possible.
Yet, with all of the medical, legal, financial, and logistical aspects to our decision-making process, one factor weighed most heavily on my heart: What kind of world would my child be inheriting? Would they hate me for bringing them into a world that was dying?
Both my spouse and I had several conversations about this truly difficult reality. Was it fair for us to bring someone into a world that was going to be that much harder and scarier for them just because we wanted a child? With global temperatures and fascism on the rise, would they even have a chance to live a full life? Even now, asking those questions aloud, I still wonder…I suppose that’s the inevitable reality of parenthood.
But in the end, amidst those real fears and uncertainties, we knew there was space for hope. Because we believed, and still do, that just because the hardships are inevitable, it doesn’t mean the beauty and healing are impossible. Because we know what kind of world we are building our family within, we can surround Noor with the values, experiences, and communities that nurture their creativity, resilience, compassion, and commitment to the world they decide is possible. Witnessing youth and young adults lead the way with movements like the March for Our Lives, the Sunrise Movement, Black Youth Project 100, Palestinian Youth Movement, and countless more reminded us that if the ones inheriting the world are still fighting to change it, then we have no excuse to give up on it yet. That Noor would be inheriting not simply a dying world but an evolving one - shaped by the experiences, imaginations, wisdom, and collective care of communities centered on the values of interdependence, transformation, and love.
Becoming parents was no small decision or task for myself and my spouse. We live at the intersections of some very real privileges and challenges. On the one hand, we are a q***r couple, so the ways we could expand our family necessitated medical and legal proceedings that disproportionately imp...
