Welcome to season two of Uncommon Minds, where host Shelly Henriquez-Neill as she introduces you to some of the most extraordinary people you may never have heard about leading from where they are and making real impact in the worlds where they live and work. . Today, Shelly sits down with Dr. Michael Genhart, a clinical psychologist, queer Latino man, and children’s book author whose work focuses on fairness, identity, and telling children difficult truths with honesty and compassion.
Dr. Genhart grew up in Southern California as one of seven children in a multicultural Mexican American and Swiss American family. Public school teachers and librarians sparked his lifelong love of books and storytelling. As a child, he wrote letters to authors and illustrators he admired, a passion that eventually came full circle when he became an author himself and began receiving letters from young readers. He was the first in his family to attend college, later earning a doctorate in clinical and community psychology. He met his husband John during grad school, and the couple has now been together for nearly forty years; they later adopted a daughter at a time when adoption by openly gay men was rare and often illegal.
His love of reading picture books with his daughter inspired him to begin writing children’s books after she left for college. Dr. Genhart emphasizes that his work is shaped by his identities as a psychologist, gay father, and member of a multicultural family, with a recurring focus on injustice, fairness, and helping children see themselves and others reflected in stories. his picture book biography Edie for Equality, which tells the story of Edie Windsor and her successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, highlighting her role in advancing marriage equality and preserving an important chapter of queer history for young readers. In another of his books, Spanish Is the Language of My Family, which draws on stories from his mother’s childhood and continues his exploration of identity, belonging, and social justice. Dr. Genhart argues that silence can unintentionally reinforce injustice, while stories can give children language, confidence, and examples of people who stood up for what was right.
Dr. Genhart rejects being limited to a single label, instead drawing on the intersections of his identities as a queer, Latino author and psychologist. He shares details about his upcoming book Mariposa, which reclaims a derogatory Spanish term for queer people by telling the story of a loving grandmother who helps her grandson embrace himself despite prejudice, highlighting the powerful role that supportive adults play in a child’s development. Throughout the interview, a recurring theme is the importance of safety, belonging, and having trusted people who help children navigate difficult experiences. Dr. Genhart argues that both therapy and children’s literature create spaces for exploration and conversation, not by changing minds directly, but by helping people discover new perspectives for themselves through empathy, reflection, and dialogue.
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