I am ecstatic to be starting a local COLAGE chapter! I have been attending Family Week in Provincetown since I was born (and adopted by my two wonderful moms), and have been part of the summer COLAGE program since I was old enough to join. I run my high school’s GSA, but I wanted to be able to reach out (and hang out) with other kids with LGBTQ parents throughout the year, not just the summer. I have met some of my best friends through COLAGE, and I wanted to give other high school kids the opportunity to meet like-minded kids in a comfortable environment (as well as expand my own growing friendships). My hope is to have kids anywhere from ages 13-19 join in weekend hangouts (movies, bowling, etc.) and group discussions about our families and important issues to them. I want people to have a judgement-free zone where people can have a good time and address things that they feel they can’t address anywhere else. I cannot wait to add to the always-growing family of COLAGErs. If you are interested in getting involved with this chapter, please email me at connecticut@colage.org.

Thanks!

-Hannah Roda-McNaboe

Thanks to our generous supporters Adam Berman and Alex Scotta for hosting our Bay Area event at their lovely home in San Francisco.

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!

Thursday
I had another meeting about our new Sacramento chapter with Alisha Tomita, the adult COLAGEr who facilitates the meetings. Alisha and I had spoken on the phone and exchanged countless emails, but meeting in person was really different, and really powerful. I got to hear about Alisha’s personal story in much more depth than I had heard it over the phone, and really got a better sense of the amazing experience and strength she is bringing to COLAGE as a facilitator and leader. What stood out to me the most is how much Alisha cares about creating COLAGE space and community for our youth. To have a facilitator who never had COLAGE for themselves as a young person be so invested in offering it to youth and creating it for them is such an incredible resource, the commitment and passion Alisha brings to the youth in the Sacramento chapter is something they will probably never get anywhere else, and she will undoubtedly change lives. It is so inspiring to see my peers bring that love and passion to this work.

Seattle
On Thursday night I flew from San Francisco to Seattle where we have a large and growing community of adult COLAGErs. I was very lucky to meet with Michael Beebe when I got here; Michael was involved in COLAGE as a board member very early on in COLAGE’s existence. He also founded and ran a COLAGE chapter in Seattle, and the more I heard about it, the more it sounds like the direction we are hoping to go with our chapters in the future. It’s always neat to realize that someone was about 15 years ahead of their time! The chapter Michael ran in Seattle gathered youth to train them on public speaking, and most of the work they did was going out to schools and service providers to train them on how to create inclusive, safe space for COLAGErs. Michael has remained active in the youth activist and grass-roots organizing community in Seattle and was able to give me a wealth of ideas and resources that I can share with our new Seattle chapter leaders to help give them a solid start in the area. I’m always grateful to be standing on the shoulders of COLAGErs and organizers who’ve laid strong roots in their communities – we are building from a strong legacy of thoughtful and passionate organizing, and tapping into that history is invaluable for our chapters.
Seattle is also where four adult COLAGErs have moved over the last year or so, and they are coming together to start a chapter. I met with one of them, Lydia Katz, as well as a local parent who is invested in helping the chapter for brunch. Again, the passion and excitement that adult COLAGErs bring to this work is nothing short of inspiring to me. It seems that for many of us, not having had COLAGE community until our adulthood is something we regret, and that lack is something we want to ensure youth don’t have to endure. So many adult COLAGErs tell me that they can’t express enough to the youth in their chapters how lucky they are to have something like COLAGE in their lives, and how different they think their lives would have been if they’d had this during their childhood and adolescence. This certainly came across in my conversation with Lydia, and that motivation is going to be what drives this chapter and makes me certain it will be a success!

Nick Hetherington is one of the first known people with lesbian moms to be born through donor insemination. Today he is a leader of the COLAGE NYC chapter, and a wonderful advocate for people with LGBTQ parents.

BBC Interview, June 2011 with Nick & his mom Janis
Nick and Janis Hetherington by COLAGE

On Sunday, June 26, 2011 famlies marched with COLAGE and Our Family Coalition in the San Francisco Pride Parade. Afterwards they enjoyed a “family garden” with activities such as face painting, a play ground, and more!

Casey and her moms.

<Back to Delaware Families Celebrate

Testimony supporting the Civil Unions Bill before the Senate and House in Dover, Delaware by Casey Lyn Goold.

Good afternoon. My name is Casey Lyn Goold, I am 26 years old, I am a college graduate, I own my own business, I am working on a second degree, and I have 2 moms.

I was raised by my mother, Lynda who was a single mom until my early adult life, when she met her now committed partner, Debbie, a woman with an amazing heart, who I am honored to call my second mom. Debbie has become someone I can confide in, someone I can go to for guidance, and someone who will console me when life just seems too tough. I am blessed to have the family I have now. We have financial stability, we have a house which we call our home, and we have one another. However, that could all be taken from us like that because the relationship my mother’s have is not recognized. It sickens me to think that my mother and I may be refused the right to have a final goodbye if something should happen to my mom Debbie because their relationship is not legally bound. Dying in a hospital room alone because your life partner and your family are not legally recognized as your immediate family is completely inhumane. Being denied the right to give final respects to a woman who has been a major part of my life just because she is not legally recognized as a member of my family is unfathomable. I cannot even begin to imagine what mental and emotional impact this will have on a child much younger than myself who has 2 moms or 2 dads.

With issues that are much more substantial like, global warming, unemployment, and poverty, it seems completely senseless to me that we are trying to ban love.

I ask you today to PLEASE vote YES to pass SB 30, to allow my family and quit a bit of families out there just like mine, the right to love with dignity, the
right to protect and ensure the quality of the lives we have built together, the right to protect the stability of our homes, and the right to maintain equal family rights.

Black, White, Catholic, Muslim, Irish, German, left-handed, right-handed, blonde haired, red haired, Gay, or Straight, we are all pink on the inside. We all bleed red. And we all deserve equal rights!

Thank you!

COLAGE families featured on Delaware Online:

“I love my father — even more since he’s been able to be more true to himself,” Brian said. “Our relationship got far more honest.”

“For many children of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) parents, having a family that’s treated differently and discriminated against can be isolating or challenging,” said Tipping, who now leads the group with Patty Irwin. “But when they meet others who can appreciate that experience because they’ve been there, they feel seen, heard and understood — often for the first time.”That’s how Daryl Cramer felt, and so did three of his buddies — Dakota, Jeffrey and Kyle, the 11-year-old triplet sons of Eve Davis and her former partner, Ingrid. The triplets were among the first to join COLAGE. Read the full story>

Casey Lyn Goold Testifies in Delaware:

“It sickens me to think that my mother and I may be refused the right to have a final goodbye if something should happen to my mom Debbie because their relationship is not legally bound.” Read her full testimony>

At COLAGE we know that many people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) parents face challenges and isolation because their families are not reflected in school curriculum or discussions. We also know that when bills like this are splashed across newspaper pages, twitter, and facebook, people with LGBTQ parents experience increased bullying and discrimination.

Families come in all shapes and sizes so it is vital for our youth that all families are celebrated in schools.

COLAGE featured in Vanity Fair Italy