San Francisco, October 7th

Join us as we as one of our upcoming house parties!  We are holding parties around the country to provide opportunities for people to gather and learn more about COLAGE and our great COLAGErs!  email us at: Colage@colage.org to find out where to find a party near you OR how to host one yourself!

COLAGE is the only national youth-driven network for people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) parents. For over 20 years, we’ve built a community and movement toward social justice through youth empowerment, leadership development, education, and advocacy. Join us to help strengthen the unique voice of youth and adults of LGBTQ families across the country!

COLAGE is currently seeking candidates for the Board of Directors.  We are a multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-talented group of dedicated volunteers that include youth and adults with LGBTQ parents, LGBTQ parents, and allies from around the nation.  Well-qualified candidates will have an opportunity to help guide and cultivate COLAGE through a new era.

While we welcome any interested applicants, we are particularly seeking:

• Experience with nonprofit/corporate fundraising
• Experience with financial oversight and accounting
• Experience with law/legal practice (LGBTQ, human rights, non-profit, or family law preferred)
• Energetic, talented, self-starter youth (currently enrolled in high school)

To apply: Please send a current resume and a concise Letter of intent to the Membership Committee at: membership@colage.org Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or would like additional information.

Young people are encouraged to apply.

We look forward to reviewing your application!

If you have a friend or co-worker that may seem like a good fit for the board please pass their name on to us, and have them apply!

Although some people like OMM found the ad offensive, many people applauded J.C. Penney for it.  Because of people like you, J.C. Penney received enormous support from its more progressive clientele.  This advertisement didn’t just say, look at our great clothing line.  It also said, We support ALL families.

We, at COLAGE, were thrilled.  Many of us felt visible and validated to see families similar to our own being advertised in mainstream media.  Still, we were also worried that the OMM’s hate wave would keep J.C. Penney in check for fear of losing much of their customer-base.  We at COLAGE are now beyond thrilled to say that J.C. Penney continues to take a stand.  For Father’s Day,
J.C. Penney posted this advertisement, picturing two doting dads, aiming to celebrate ALL fathers.

There is, however, an important word to point out in the above paragraph.  That word is “aiming.”  And though we are grateful for J.C. Penney’s support of families with same-sex parents, we find ourselves concerned about a different representational shortcoming.

In addition to common ad issues like lack of size diversity and the exclusivity of commercialized beauty – issues that deserve [and have] their own respective (and often intersecting) discourse – the photos are not as inclusive (and therefore not as empowering) as we think they should be.

One of the main selling points of the advertisements is that they showcase real, loving families.  We can see from the photos that these are real families full of very real love.  However, both sets of parents in the advertisements appear to be white.  If real families are being modeled, that realness needs to include all kinds of families; families of different races/ethnicities, classes, sizes, etc.  When J.C. Penney creates ads that are able to do that, we will truly have something to celebrate.  J.C. Penney normally does a tremendous job of showcasing many different kinds of people.  We want to encourage that kind of inclusion to continue.

It is important to note that the COLAGErs in the second advertisement appear to be youth of color (and possibly mixed identities).  This is certainly a step in the direction we hope J.C. Penney continues to go.  We understand the difficulty of representational advertising and the bravery that the folks in charge of advertisement at J.C. Penney MUST have.  We applaud that bravery and that gumption.  Way to go, J.C. Penney.  COLAGE loves you for this.  And we encourage you to keep working to make real families visible.

We would love to hear what you think about this post and encourage you to get in touch with us through email.

More importantly, this reminds us that our movement, the LGBTQ movement, is about social justice, and as such, it is inextricably linked to and embedded in the legacy the NAACP.  Urvashi Vaid recently published a piece describing a schism in the framing of the LGBTQ movement as being either for social justice, or for equal rights.  COLAGE is a social justice organization.  COLAGE believes that civil rights are part of our path to social justice, but that social justice is a longer road, and it’s one we’re walking on with our allies in all oppressed and minority communities.  We are not just walking this road with them, we are also standing on their shoulders, walking paths they’ve paved ahead of us.

The NAACP’s platform is for broad and sweeping change toward social justice, not just equal rights, and we commend that long-sighted vision.  COLAGE stands with the NAACP in the fight for an end to legalized and institutionalized racial profiling, we stand with the NAACP in the fight for better access to healthcare and nutrition for all Americans, we stand with the NAACP in fighting for access to high quality schools that are not re-segregated thanks to white flight, we stand with the NAACP in fighting for reproductive rights, we stand with the NAACP in the fight for voter rights, and we stand with the NAACP in the belief that the civil right to marriage should be afforded to all Americans.

Our movement and our work will not end with marriage equality, and that is because it is only the most privileged among the LGBTQ community who will then have full access to what they need to thrive.  Social justice is more abstract, more intangible, and yes, harder to campaign and fundraise for, but it is what we are working towards.  We, as people of color and as white people, as the children of LGBTQ parents, as people who are straight, queer, trans, gender-variant, and gender conforming, as people with and without economic, social, and racial privilege have always stood together as COLAGErs for social justice for all as a higher (and harder) goal than equal rights, and we stand with the NAACP in the pursuit of equal rights as an important step toward our other shared goals of social justice.

We thank and congratulate Ben Jealous and the NAACP for their work for all of us, and we are committed to continuing our work with them and countless other social justice and civil rights organizations.

After all, I was already a very unlikely child. Born to a drug-addicted mother who was pregnant with me while she was in prison, I was saved by her inability to feed her addiction behind bars. She had already been through five abortions and the doctors did not think her womb could support life. But I was a “fighting fetus.” I was determined to get born! Once I was, I was adopted by my father and his partner. Their families shunned me initially because of my race and difficult background. My father thought about how—with a story like that—I had enough challenges in store for me, and he did not want me to have to answer for his sexuality too. Deep down though, the pit in his stomach told him that it was inevitable.

When asked who our heroes are, many of us mention one or both of our parents. For me, this question and my answer to it take on a deeper meaning given my life circumstances. My father and his partner rescued me from being another abortion or another statistic in the streets. Despite the clouds gathered around my initial entrance into this world, they gave me a wonderful childhood. I learned my numbers on the cash register working in our family store–my first job. I played baseball and climbed trees. I became student council president in high school. And I did what no one in our family had done before: I graduated from college. All the while I was taught by them to persevere and move beyond the discrimination we faced as a family. I never had a community like COLAGE growing up and our work now is to ensure that children with LGBTQ parents who are isolated, as I was, realize that they are supported by a strong and vibrant community of peers.

Thanks so much for watching and sharing this video about my family! I’ve heard the terrible things Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and others are saying about families like yours and mine. It’s a form of bullying, and I think one of the best ways to respond is by sharing our stories. I’m proud to have two gay dads and a lesbian mom.

This summer, I worked with COLAGE Voices Raised advisor Heliana Ramirez and her UC Berkeley Public Health Policy classmates to produce this special video featuring my family. It was especially great to make this video with Heliana because we both have gay dads and understand what it’s like to be treated differently and discriminated against.

This 3-minute video shows how COLAGE helps young people like me realize that by sharing our stories, we help create a world that treats all families with dignity and respect. I hope you enjoy it, share it with your friends and family, and make a donation to COLAGE so more youth like me become strong advocates for ourselves and our families!

In the video I talk about name-calling at school. When LGBT family issues are in the news or anti-gay political campaign ads are on tv and the internet, students like me often feel a backlash – the bullies feel validated and our teachers are sometimes unsure how to respond. Youth with LGBT parents have a unique and powerful story that can help make everyone feel safer at school. Here in California, I’m sharing my truth and speaking out to help protect the FAIR Education Act that passed to ensure the LGBT movement, leaders and families like mine are reflected in social studies and history lessons.

Thanks to financial support from people like you, COLAGE programs have empowered me and other COLAGE youth to advocate for LGBTQ families. Now, more than ever, we need your support to make sure more young people can do the same.

Please watch our new video and donate to COLAGE today as a monthly donor at $10, $25, or $50 a month so that even more youth with LGBT parents will be able to change the world! I have a goal of inspiring 10 people to become new monthly donors by September 10th. Will you help me reach that goal?

Sincerely,

Kyle Fa

P.S. Don’t forget to share this on Facebook and beyond (see below)!

The FAIR Education Act requires local school districts in California, with input from parents and teachers, to integrate factual, age-appropriate information about social movements, current events and the contributions of gay and disabled leaders into existing social studies lessons that include contributions of both men and women, people of color and other groups. It also prevents schools from adopting learning materials with a discriminatory bias or negative stereotypes based solely on race, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation.

The FAIR Education Act, SB48, ensures that all students in California will learn about the historic contributions that LGBT people have made to society – history like Harvey Milk’s groundbreaking run for Mayor of San Francisco or Bayard Rustin’s organizing of the Civil Rights march and acting as an adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.

Now, well-funded anti-gay groups are organizing to put a repeal of the law on the ballot this November meaning once again our families will be under attack and our history erased. You have seen how vicious, anti-gay campaigns like those during Prop 8 increase violence and bullying in schools and in our communities. This campaign is no different, the anti-gay groups are already spreading harmful misinformation about this law. We must work together by sharing our stories with our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family about why it is important to our families to continue including the contributions of LGBT people and all people in accurate history lessons in our schools.

Listen to this segment on California Public Radio feartuing Paulo Sibaja, whop filed the paperwork to launch the repeal effort, and Rebekah Orr, Communications Director, Equality California.

Southern California Public Radio: FAIR Education Act by COLAGE

Take Action:

We need your eyes and ears on the ground today. If you spot an anti-LGBT, anti-progressive signature gatherers, report them immediately by calling the toll-free “Decline to Sign Hotline” at 1-877-440-9585. We’ll immediately dispatch a trained “truth squad” to make sure potential petition signers know the truth about these initiatives including the referendum on the FAIR Education Act.
We’re working to protect the FAIR Education Act and block this referendum from the ballot as
part of a broad coalition of organizations including advocates for people with disabilities, LGBT
organizations, labor unions, faith communities, racial justice groups and many other groups that
believe in equality for all.

Please take a moment to write a letter to your local or state-wide newspapers about why it is important for all students to learn about the historic contributions of LGBT people.  Whether you have LGBTQ parents or you’re working to create a world that treats all families with dignity and respect, your voice counts.

In your letter:

• Encourage people not to sign any petitions to put a repeal of the FAIR Education Act on the ballot.
• Share a brief personal story about why this issue is important to you

Submit:

Here is a list of contact information for California newspapers.

Be sure to submit your letter to COLAGE so that we can keep it on record, and share it widely!

The Growing COALITION TO PROTECT THE FAIR EDUCATION ACT:
California Teachers Association, National Center for Lesbian Rights, ACLU Northern and Southern California, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Freedom to Marry, API Equality Northern California and Los Angeles, GLSEN, GAPSN, Our Family Coalition, COLAGE, Courage Campaign, Latino Equality Alliance, the San Diego LGBT Community Center, Transgender Law Center, Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, Vote for Equality, San Francisco Pride, Jordan Rustin Coalition, Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, Orange County Equality Coalition, and Honor PAC.

Our friends at Third Way have released this incredible graphic showing how far we have come since 1996, and how far we have to go until all families are recognized by law and treated with dignity and respect.