JFU is the only publication dedicated to the words, thoughts, opinions, and experiences of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender parents - and we want to hear from YOU.

The next issue of JFU celebrates our personal experiences with coming out and being visible in our communities.

We are looking for articles, poetry, interviews, art and more from youth and adults who have/had one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender parent/s. The following are just a few topics that you could address:

• Experiences you have had with coming out about your family to a friend, teacher, co-worker, etc. You can share the hard, the great and the humorous coming out experiences from either childhood or adulthood.
• The experience of being closeted, either because your parent/s aren’t out or you aren’t.
• Coming out yourself- either as 2nd Gen or as straight.
• Being visible in your community (this could be your town, your religious community, your racial or ethic community, etc.) What is it like? Is your family accepted? How is your particular community unique for someone with LGBT parents?
• Being visible as a family- times when your family was or wasn’t recognized as a family whether at home, on vacation, or by the law.
• Your own interpretation of the theme of coming out and visibility!

Submissions may take several formats - share your personal stories, essays, interviews, poems, artwork, and ideas. We will work with you to make sure your story is told in your own words, the way you want it - you, the contributor, have final approval of your piece before it goes to print. You can submit a finished piece or let us interview you - it’s up to you. Please limit your pieces to two-dimensional and 500 words or less.

Let us know ASAP if you would like to work on a piece for Just for Us. The deadline for submissions is August 16th, 2007. Please send all questions, comments and submissions to jfu@colage.org. We can’t wait to hear from you!