COLAGE News Blog
COLAGE Speak Out and OUTspoken Families Trainings in San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles!
Do you want to impact change for youth and families? Become OUTSPOKEN!
Join over 650 LGBTQ parents, youth and adult children of LGBTQ people, extended family members and caring allies who have already committed to making a commitment to speak about the need for full family equality. Parents will become a part of Family Pride's national speakers bureau for family equality, OUTSpoken Families while youth and adults with LGBT parents will join the COLAGE national network of activists, Speak OUT.
\When we share the true experiences and lives of our families, we impact change- learn how to use public speaking, informal conversations or the media to make a difference in the lives of children, youth, adults and parents in LGBT families. With separate sessions for COLAGErs (youth and adults), parents and allies, this training is for anyone wishing to impact change for LGBT families.
Trina Olson Program & Education Manager for Family Pride and Meredith Fenton, COLAGE Program Director will lead this exciting training with specific breakouts for parents, allies and youth and adults with LGBT parents.
COME TO THE TRAINING NEAREST YOU!
Northern California Training
January 27, 2006
10 a.m. -2:00 p.m.
Co-Presented by: Our Family Coalition, Family Pride and COLAGE.
Location: SF LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street.
Co-sponsored by PFLAG, the LGBT Early Childhood Education Initiative and others.
Childcare provided. Please R.S.V.P. for childcare to Yensing at 415-981-1960, or email her at mailto:yensing@ourfamily.org.
San Diego Training
February 3, 2007
Time: 10:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.
Location: San Diego LGBT Community Center, 3909 Centre Street, San Diego, CA
Sponsored by San Diego Family Matters, COLAGE, and Family Pride. Organized by the California Family Unity Network (CalFUN).
Los Angeles Training
February 4, 2007
Time: 1:00 pm-5:00 pm
Location: the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Village at Ed Gould Plaza 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA
Sponsored by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Family Services Program, COLAGE, and Family Pride. Organized by the California Family Unity Network (CalFUN).
January 22nd- 26th, 2007
http://www.NoNameCallingWeek.org
COLAGE has joined together with GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing in collaboration with nearly 50 education, mental
health, youth advocacy and social justice organizations to address the problem of name-calling and verbal bullying in U.S. schools. During the week of January 22 - 26, 2007, schools serving grades five through eight across the nation will be asked to take part in a week of educational activities aimed at stopping name-calling and creating safer and more affirming schools for all students.
Students with LGBT parents often share with COLAGE their experiences with name-calling and hearing homophobic slurs in the hallways of their schools. COLAGE hopes that this week of action will continue to develop safer schools for all students, including those with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parent/s.
No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled The Misfits by popular author James Howe. The novel tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and runs on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. Though they lose the election, they win the support of the school’s principal for their cause and their idea for a “No Name Day� at school.
Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, schools across the nation will again organize No Name-Calling Week during January 22–26, 2007. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling and bullying in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities. The project is targeted at grades five through eight—years when the problem of name-calling is particularly acute—but the concept can be easily adapted by students and educators at other grade levels.
We hope that you will join us in our efforts to end name-calling in our schools. Visit www.NoNameCallingWeek.org to register your school, download and order educational materials and find our more about this exciting project. Additionally, COLAGE offers
several excellent educational tools that can assist your school or community in addressing the experiences of youth with LGBT parents specifically. Learn about our tools- http://colage.org/resources/visibility.htm
If you are a youth with LGBT parents, a teacher or a parent who will be participating in No Name Calling Week, please let us know! Tell us how your school will fight name calling and homophobia in January.
