COLAGE News Blog

Kids of Trans in the Media Mar 27 08

Kids of Trans Fellow, Monica Canfield-Lenfest, is featured in the story "My Mommy Is a Man" on ABCNews.com. The story discusses some of the issues of transgender parenting and gives advice to parents about coming out to their kids. We hope this article will help even more KOTs find COLAGE:

Monica Canfield-Lenfest first learned her father planned to make his outward appearance match his innermost feelings and become a woman when she was 17.

Because of feelings of shame and fears of being teased, many children keep their parent's transition a secret, leading the children to feel isolated and alone, said Canfield-Lenfest, who, as a fellow at Colage, a group that counsels children of gay and transgender parents, is writing the first resource guide for children of transgender parents.

"The biggest thing is a feeling of isolation. My dad came out when I was 17, and I thought I was the only one," she said.

"People have all kinds of reactions. One friend found out his father was about to undergo a transition and his reaction was 'Oh, that's fine, can we make the 2:20 showing of X-Men 2.' Other people are angry. Many have questions right away, and others need to process the information more slowly."

"The best things a parent can do is keep their door open and answer their kids' questions," she said.

To read more, click here.

Buddy G Joins COLAGE Mar 26 08

COLAGE welcomes Buddy G as the organization's newest member. The organization is a national movement of children, youth and adults who have one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) parents.

Buddy G is the starring animated character of the show Buddy G, My Two Moms and Me, an animated cartoon series for children starring a character with same sex parents. As the name suggests, Buddy G has two lesbian moms in the cartoon.

"Buddy G is a perfect fit for COLAGE. The cartoon promotes acceptance, justice, equality, and love by celebrating Buddy and his family; we are delighted to accept Buddy G's membership," according to Beth Teper the Executive Director of COLAGE. "While all COLAGE members are dynamic and spirited, Buddy G is our first truly animated member."

Teper went on to state that COLAGE was created for the more than 10 million people in the United States who have one or more LGBTQ parents and/or guardians. Through youth empowerment, leadership development, advocacy and education, COLAGE builds community among people with LGBTQ parents and works for social justice for all youth and families.

Youth members of COLAGE are connected to a vibrant community of peers who share the experience of having LGBTQ parents through chapters, regional events, and on-line social networking programs. The organization also disseminates a diverse array of resources including free Respect All Families posters for schools, the award-winning film In My Shoes: Stories of Youth with LGBT Parents, undergraduate scholarships and much more. COLAGE also is excited to invite families to two annual summer Family Weeks- one in Saugatuck, Michigan and the other in Provincetown, Massachusetts which are unique opportunities for families like Buddy's to make friends and have fun.

Margaux Towne-Colley, Executive Producer of Buddy G, reports that the animated cartoon, sold on DVD, has faced little opposition since its debut in late November, 2007 and has been enthusiastically received by LGBT parents and their children across the United States and in several other counties such as Canada, Australia, Spain, Brazil, and England. Towne-Colley indicates that over 50,000 people have watched the show's opening and theme song which is available for viewing both on the cartoon's website www.BuddyG.tv and YouTube. Both Buddy G and COLAGE have pages on MySpace with Buddy G's attracting more than 6,000 visitors in less than 3 months.

Towne-Colley stated, "Buddy G has enjoyed incredible success and visibility during our first four months and we hope that Buddy G's membership will bring that same prominence to COLAGE. COLAGE is a fantastic organization and can be a great source of friendship and understanding for kids with an LGBT parent or parents. I don't think it should be any surprise that a cartoon character with two moms would want to join the only national organization in the world offering a community to these kids. We produced Buddy G as one small piece of making the world a better place for youth and their families. We're proud to stand by COLAGE in this joint vision for our kids and hopefully focus well-deserved attention on a group that does outstanding work in our community."

For additional information on Buddy G contact Margaux Towne-Colley at 402-505-1051 or visit www.BuddyG.tv. The first episode of Buddy G is available on DVD ($10) from the cartoon's website.

For additional information on COLAGE contact Meredith Fenton, COLAGE National Program Director at 415-861-5437 x102 or visit www.colage.org where you can find information about local chapters and events, programs and resources, and become a member.

COLAGE Kids of Trans Program profiled on You Tube Mar 24 08

COLAGE Toronto Celebrates 11th Anniversary Mar 20 08

COLAGE Toronto 11 Year Anniversary Celebration
Thursday April 10, 2008
5:30 to 8pm
Sherbourne Health Centre
333 Sherbourne Street
Toronto, Ontario M5A 2S5

COLAGE Toronto is a social/support group for kids with lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans parents, guardians and caregivers. For 11 years COLAGE Toronto has been meeting twice a month at the 519 Church Street Community Centre. We've been offering a space and place for kids with lgbt parents to meet, socialize and talk confidentially about all things important to kids with queer parents. Join us for our celebration and meet COLAGE families past, present, and future and find out more about us. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Sherbourne Health Centre who will host our event on Thursday April 10, 2008 from 5:30 to 8pm as part of their Queer Health Matters Week. COLAGE welcomes children grade 3 and up and their families to come out and enjoy some good company, music, light refreshments and resources. For more information, please contact Steven Solomon, School Social Worker, TDSB tel: 416-985-3749, email: steven.solomon@tdsb.on.ca

COLAGEr Wins Prestigious ACLU Scholarship Mar 20 08

COLAGE is thrilled to announce that Cara Cerise, coordinator of COLAGE Salt Lake City and member of the COLAGE Speak OUT program, has been awarded an ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship. These awards are granted in recognition of their outstanding work to protect civil liberties, especially for young people.

"Cara has been an impressive leader in COLAGE, single handedly starting an entirely youth-run COLAGE Chapter in Salt Lake City," commented Meredith Fenton, COLAGE Program Director. "We are excited that the ACLU has recognized Cara's work with COLAGE as well as her many other leadership accomplishments."

To read more about the winners of this years ACLU Youth Activist Scholarships visit their website. To get involved with COLAGE Salt Lake City, email them.

COLAGE Speak OUT Opportunity for Connecticut Mar 13 08

Come to Hartford on Monday to show support for Marriage Equality!

On Monday, March 17 beginning at 12noon in Room 2c in the Legislative Office Building, the Judiciary Committee will hear testimony about the problems that couples are facing with civil unions and the need to give same-sex couples FULL equality by passing marriage legislation.

Submit written testimony if you have faced legal problems, financial hardships or confusion with your own civil union. Maybe that confusion occurred when dealing with a hospital, funeral home, or probate court. You can share what it feels like as a youth with LGBTQ parents to try to explain to friends what a civil union is or talk about how marriage would give your family validation that would make you feel safe in your school or community.

If you don't want to testify, we hope you'll join us for some or all of the afternoon and wear an EQUALITY sticker or COLAGE shirt to show support.

For more information on testifying and what is required, contact Carol Buckheit at Love Makes a Family at 860-525-7777, x313 or carol@lmfct.org. If you are a youth or adult with LGBTQ parents who plans to testify, please let COLAGE know by emailing Meredith Fenton, COLAGE Program Director. We can help you prepare your statements.

COLAGE Action Alert: Demand Safe Schools in Georgia Mar 12 08

SB 461 ANTI-BULLYING LEGISLATION CLEARS SENATE, HEADS TO HOUSE

COLAGE applauds the efforts of Georgia Equality in moving forward Senate Bill 461 anti-bullying legislation. This week SB 461 passed the Senate and heads to the House for consideration.

SB 461 strengthens Georgia's anti-bullying statute to accurately define the scope and impact of bullying, requires local school systems to work with faculty, parents, and students to adopt and enforce anti-bullying policies, and makes it easier for students and necessary for school employees to report information about bullying.

SB461 will impact schools in Georgia by promoting safer environments for all students, including those impacted by homophobia and transphobia. Shared COLAGE Atlanta member, Dalton Johnson who is 16 and has gay dads, "Youth should be able to feel safe in an environment that is supposed to let them excel in life. We spend a large portion of our life in schools, we should not feel threatened to gain knowledge."

COLAGE encourages COLAGErs, their families and allies in Georgia to contact representatives during the next 10 working days of General Session to secure passage of this important piece of legislation. Georgia Equality is taking the lead in urging the legislature to adopt the bill. Visit their website to learn more about SB461, find out how to write your representatives and get involved in the movement to create safer schools.

To connect with the new COLAGE Atlanta chapter (Kickoff event coming soon!), email atlanta@colage.org.

FACTS ON BULLYING AGAINST LGBT YOUTH and STUDENTS WITH LGBT PARENTS
78% of youth report that gay and lesbian youth are teased or bullied in their schools and communities. 93% of youth hear other youth at school or in their neighborhood use words like "fag," "homo," "dyke," "queer," or "gay" at least once in a while, with 51% hearing them every day (National Mental Health Association). It's bullying in schools, along with other forms of discrimination and lack of acceptance that lead to: LGBT youth being twice as likely as heterosexual youth to abuse alcohol, and eight times more likely to use cocaine/crack (The American Association of Pediatrics). 48% of LGBT youth having seriously considered suicide, 29% of LGBT youth having seriously attempted suicide, and 30% of all completed adolescent suicides in the U.S. having been committed by LGBT youth (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Furthermore, a recent report released by GLSEN, COLAGE and the Family Equality Council demonstrated that in a national survey of students with LGBT parents, 42% had been verbally harassed at school in the past year because their parents were LGBT. (GLSEN)

Massachusetts Legislature Hears Gender Protection Legislation Mar 11 08

On March 4th, the Massachusetts State Legislature moved one step closer to protecting people's gender identity and expression. A Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing for HB 1722 "An Act Relative to Gender Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes". If you live in MA, please call your state rep in support of this bill. Contact Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition to get more information and get involved.

COLAGE's Kids of Trans Fellow, Monica Canfield-Lenfest, submitted this written testimony in support of this vital piece of legislation:

My name is Monica and I lived in Jamaica Plain, MA, until late 2007, when I moved to San Francisco to work for COLAGE, a national organization of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer parents. I am completing a fellowship at COLAGE to expand their Kids of Trans program and develop resources for people with transgender parents.

My father is a transgender woman who transitioned from male to female in western Massachusetts about ten years ago. She found it difficult to maintain a career while facing discrimination as a transgender woman. Eventually, she took a job with a corporation in Vermont with human resources policies prohibiting gender based discrimination. She was forced to make a long commute, keeping her from spending time with my 14-year old sister. Last year, she and her partner finally decided to leave Massachusetts permanently to move to Vermont, one of a growing number of states with protections against gender-based discrimination.

HB 1722 would provide much needed protections for families like mine, families with one or more transgender parent(s). As the daughter of a transgender person, I have witnessed the impacts of transgender discrimination on my family. My father has struggled to support our family and found that her best option was to leave the state. Passage of this legislation would provide transgender parents, like my dad, with the opportunity to work and live in Massachusetts without fear of discrimination.

Thank you for your consideration of my family in the passage of HB 1722, An Act Related to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes.

Visit www.masstpc.org for more information.

Action Alert for Minnesota: Support LGBT Family Curriculum in Schools Mar 7 08

*reposted from our friends at Rainbow Families MN*

Last night, over 200 parents turned out for an informational meeting about Welcoming Schools at Hale Elementary, a school in South Minneapolis. The LGBT inclusive K-5 resource guide, Welcoming Schools, helps elementary schools address family diversity, gender stereotypes, and name-calling through teacher training and lesson plans.

Minneapolis has been selected as one of three national sites for a pilot of the Welcoming Schools project, joining San Francisco and New Bedford, Massachusetts. The three potential Minneapolis pilot sites are Hale, Jefferson, and Parkview.

A vocal group of parents are opposed to the pilot project because it is LGBT inclusive and are actively mobilizing people to speak out against this curriculum. These parents have expressed their preference for schools not to teach their children about LGBT individuals. They also contend that such curriculum undermines their parental authority. Many straight allies and several LGBT parents are defending the importance of this project.

COLAGE joins our colleagues Rainbow Families in calling on our families and allies to have their voices heard as well.

Here are some steps you can take:

If you are a Hale, Jefferson, or Parkview parent, make sure your principal knows that you support this pilot project. Encourage friends at these schools to speak up as well.
Contact your area superintendent to let them know you support Welcoming Schools and explain why it is valuable for all families.

Continue to advocate for anti-bias and anti-bullying curriculum that is LGBT inclusive in your school.

For more information about Welcoming Schools and what you can do, contact Stephanie Hazen, Rainbow Families School Initiative Program Director by email or 612-823-5145.

California Court to Hear Marriage Case Mar 3 08

COLAGE is pleased to share the news that tomorrow, March 4th,2008, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the California Marriage Case. The case combines four lawsuits - three by nearly two dozen couples who want to marry and the fourth by the city of San Francisco, which entered the dispute after the court overturned Mayor Gavin Newsom's order that cleared the way for nearly 4,000 same-sex weddings in February and March 2004.

COLAGE applauds the efforts of our colleagues at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California, and the ACLU who will be presenting arguments before the court in this historic case. We hope that the court recognizes as we do at COLAGE that families are strongest when they receive equal respect and protections under the law.

Watch the court case live! Click here to find out where.