This week, Ebony magazine made a progressive leap when they featured married gay Atlanta couple Rashad Burgess and Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen III, who spoke about their union and their life as parents to their adopted daughter, 11-week-old Caylee LaTanya Burgess-Allen, in the mag’s “Coolest Black Families in America” feature.
In the article, the Burgess-Allens explain that they were able to adopt with the help of a social worker at Allen’s church, Vision Church. And though they were expecting a boy — they’d even picked out boy names — they were surprised to find that their child to be was actually a girl.
“The doctor came out and said, ‘You have a beautiful healthy baby! Just one little detail: it’s a girl.’ We were shocked!” recalled the couple about Caylee’s birth. “We felt like she was divinely sent. She even had some of our features, so much so [that] in the hospital, the biological mother’s mother pointed it out. It was a very spiritual moment. We knew she was intentionally brought here for us. She’s so precious, so beautiful.”
And the Burgess-Allens believe that their new role as fathers is the highest calling they could have ever received from God.
“I don’t think there’s any greater thing that a human being can do than pour into another human being and raise a child. There is no other thing that is greater than that. It fulfills your life. I believe that is what humans are designed to do,” said Rashad.
It’s great to see gay parents getting their much-deserved time in the public spotlight and, hopefully, the Burgess-Allens’ story bring about greater acceptance of gay parents around the globe.
Check out some other famous gay dads below. –nicholas robinson
