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CHAPTER SPOTLIGHTS ARCHIVE Meet some of the great groups providing COLAGE programming around the country: COLAGE Salt Lake City Browsing on the internet last summer, I curiously typed "kids with gay parents" into the google search line. I was trying to somehow find that I was not the only person in the universe with gay parents. That's when I discovered COLAGE, and soon found out I am definitely not the only one! I was so curious about the organization and I desperately wanted to find out how to get involved. I saw the contact information for the Utah chapter of COLAGE and immediately picked up the phone. I dialed the number as fast as I could, stumbling over my fingers with great excitement. I anxiously waited for someone to pick up on the other line. The recently re-opened Utah Chapter of COLAGE was formed in October 2006. We are going strong and having a blast! Each month it seems we have a new family join our group. It is very exciting to watch and be a part of the growth of the COLAGE community here in Salt Lake City. Our first meeting was a pizza and soda social which was held at the LGBT community center of Utah. It was awesome and such a great way to get things up and running. Since then we have done so much!!! We had the great opportunity of participating in the Utah Pride festival and got to march in the parade. Our hearts were joyful and it was so important for all of us to feel the support of our families, friends, fellow Utahans, and allies. Other past activities have included a movie night, games night, pajama party, family barbeque, talent show, and swimming. Heading into my senior year of high school, and coming up on our chapters one year anniversary, I am filled with passion and excitement. This COLAGE group, even in its short time of being, has brought so much to my life. I am excited to see what this year will bring. A little bit scared to possibly move away for college and pass on the torch, but confident that this chapter will keep going and continue to bring joy and support into other youths' lives like it has mine. COLAGE Los Angeles Growing up in a small town, I often wondered if I was the only kid with a lesbian mom and secretly wished for the chance to meet other kids that had families like mine. I didn't meet another person with LGB and/or T parents until I was 23, and I did not know that COLAGE existed until I was 24. As you can imagine, no words can explain the overwhelming and emotional feelings that came with my discovery of an organization made of and for people like me. After such an exciting finding I was naturally dismayed to learn that there was no COLAGE chapter in the Los Angeles area. Feeling the absence of a queerspawn community I, along with 2 other adult COLAGErs, decided to start up a COLAGE-LA chapter. Last May we had our kick-off event with the L.A. premiere of In My Shoes, and we have been having monthly events ever since. Co-leading a COLAGE chapter has been an awesome experience! I've had a blast getting to know queerspawn in my community while doing fun things like playing glow in the dark mini golf, having a movie night, throwing a pizza party, and hosting a recent roller skating event with over 20 COLAGErs! We are slowly building our COLAGE community in Los Angeles, and while I think our chapter is amazing, I know there are always things we can do to make it even better. That's why I jumped on the chance to attend the first-ever COLAGE Chapter Institute in Dallas. Last October queerspawn from all over the country arrived in Dallas to participate in the first-ever COLAGE Chapter Institute. The Chapter Institute created a space for COLAGE chapter leaders to meet and learn how to make our COLAGE chapters even better than they already are. During the institute discussions were led addressing the always important topics of outreach and fundraising. Do you dream of having a "topless" car wash fundraiser for your COLAGE group? Now I can tell you how! Attending COLAGE chapter leaders also got to witness the unveiling of the upcoming individual chapter websites, the fabulous new COLAGE brochure, and COLAGE's latest publication "Speak Up. Speak Out! An Activism Guide for Youth and Adults with LGBT Parents." While most day-long learning experiences leave me feeling exhausted, I left the Chapter Institute feeling re-energized and ready to apply my new skills to our already spectacular COLAGE-LA chapter. In addition to my new COLAGE smarts, I had the privilege of getting to know other COLAGErs from across the country. Never before have I been surrounded by so many adult COLAGErs, and never before have I been surrounded by so many sincere, thoughtful, caring, and exuberant people. Sitting Amanda Litwin works for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Family Services Program where she spends most of her waking hours planning and implementing fun programs for LGBT parents and their children. She enjoys meeting other queerspawn, taking pictures of Buster Potpie (her tortoise), and blasting queercore music when she is alone in her apartment. She also spends an unhealthy amount of time talking about fat cats and watching episodes of The Golden Girls. COLAGE St. Louis COLAGE St. Louis just got started as a chapter in September of 2005. A group of adult COLAGErs, including an elementary school teacher and students from Washington University got together over the summer and decided that, with the growing numbers of LGBT families in the St. Louis region, it would be exciting to foster a community for youth with LGBT parents. About 10 families strong, our chapter has been meeting monthly and we have youth ranging in age from 3 years to 21 years! At our most recent activity, our families joined a local demonstration against a conference held in St. Louis that publicized homosexuality as an 'illness' that could be cured. COLAGE New Orleans COLAGE New Orleans is the newest chapter down south. Our first meeting was in March 2004 and attended by many enthusiastic families, unified in our excitement that a group like COLAGE was actually a possibility in our area. This event was an emotional experience for everyone involved with tears of happiness and excitement shed by some. As part of this meeting we planned our next chapter event, a picnic at a beautiful park in April. The kids were thrilled about this new group and couldn't wait for a future event where we would have a space walk. There were 11 kids at our
As of 2005, COLAGE New Orleans has over 50 children and 65 parents as members and continues to host monthly events. COLAGE New Orleans is run by Dale Liuzza, a gay dad with many volunteer parents and children from the group. COLAGE Madison
COLAGE Madison was founded by Sol Kelly-Jones, an 18 year old daughter of lesbian moms when she was just 12 years old. This group is youth-led by the members of the chapter. COLAGE South Bay
Kids from the South Bay COLAGE Middle School Group came prepared with at least 5 jokes each and were encouraged to use costumes and props. Along with adult moderators Sarah Doty, who also judged the event, and Erika Weaver who acted as "MC", the kids also helped create special introductions for themselves. Not only did the kids create their own intros, they also developed a song and dance half-time show! A lively version of, "We Are Family," was accompanied with dance moves from the Macarena, making a truly original - and somewhat comedic - intermission! "I couldn't believe how ambitious the kids were," said Erika, Kyle Weaver's mom and the founder of the South Bay Chapter. "Creating the intermission show was completely their idea and they pulled it off in an hour and a half!" Nervous energy built to a frenzy as the parents began to file in for the performance. One by one, MC Erika introduced the young comedians who each took the stage with confidence and flair. "It was fun watching the kids interact and work together on such a fun project," said Fran Bennett, one of the audience members and Kyle's step-mom. Sarah Doty admitted that judging the performers was a tough task, but everyone walked away with a prize that seemed to be a great match for their jokes. Awards were given for Grossest Joke, Best Monster Joke, Best Animal Joke, Best Political Joke, and Best Overall Comedian. The event was such a success that the kids are already starting to plan "JokeFest 2"! "I can't wait to do it again," said Kyle. "It was a lot of fun!" The South Bay COLAGE Group was started in Fall 2004 by Erika Weaver. She was looking for a way for her son to connect with other kids in the Silicon Valley area who also have LGBT parents. "It's important for him to know there are other kids out there in unique family situations," said Erika. "It's not easy to bring to the subject up with casual friends at school because he's never sure what reaction he'll get. COLAGE provides a safe environment to talk about the joys and challenges of living in a special family." COLAGE New Hampshire Seacoast
Two years ago, I was finally old enough to register for the COLAGE events. I was worried about what it would be like. As it turned out, that year's Family Week was one of the most awesome times of my life! Before it started, I was feeling both nervous and excited about meeting new people who had families like mine. But after the first COLAGE activity, I realized I had nothing to worry about, and those nervous feelings quickly ran away as we jumped into fun activities where I met new friends. When my mom came to pick me up I told her all about it and how glad I was that I had gone and that I was no longer nervous. After Family Week last year I decided that I wanted to start a chapter for my area. Since I live in an area with lots of small towns I decided to make the chapter a regional chapter, instead of just for my town. We have families who come all the way from Cape Cod to Maine for events. Also, even though our chapter activities are geared for COLAGErs 8-14 years old there is a wide range of people that join us for our activities. Our first "official" event was a Halloween Party. We had about 15 COLAGErs for the party, plus their parents. We had the event at my house. We had a great time with the haunted trail that one of my Mom's made for us in the woods near our house. Everyone also enjoyed a game of tag outside and a bonfire. After the Halloween Party we went roller-skating and ate pizza which we now try do once a month. Recently, our state has been trying to restrict marriage to only a man and woman. I went with my mother to the State House to hear testimony and oppose the bill. I found it was educational to see our state in action on this issue. Unfortunately, it was recommended that the bill be passed despite testimony of the discrimination and effects this will have on our families. My family has been interviewed by several local papers, including the Boston Globe about the same-sex marriage issue recently. When my family attended a rally for same-sex marriage, we were on television. I have also been on the local, regional, and national news stations when I attended the hearing at our state house on a bill related to same-sex marriage. At first I was nervous about everyone at my school knowing about my family, but since my close friends knew and were supportive, I decided to just talk about my family. It turned out to be a fun experience, plus I got to have my picture in the Boston Globe. COLAGE New Hampshire Seacoast is coordinated by 12 year old Deanna Makinen with support from her lesbian mom Debora.
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Make Your Own Pizza Party and by June, at a pool party, we had grown even more to have 16 kids. COLAGE New Orleans continues to host monthly events from a train party, to New Orleans pride, and grows more and more each month. We are excited about the enthusiasm for this chapter and know we will continue to grow and have a positive impact in our community. 
Madison's COLAGE chapter started in 1999. Although we've had many changes in the youth who attend our gatherings, we've maintained a highly active core group of 12-15 COLAGErs and a mailing list of between 30-40 youth. A strength of our COLAGE chapter is that we know how to combine activism, support and fun. One of our best attended events recently was a peace poster making party. After a festive night of exchanging passionate political conversation, humor and creative ideas for posters, we gathered the next day with our families for a Peace march. Our proud and powerful posters and boldly sung chants inspired many other youth to come and join our queer family contingent. Other upcoming events are our second annual queer poetry slam, a solstice sleep over, ice skating, community service and organizing a gender expression campaign for the Madison School District. One of the traditions in our chapter is to have a special time at all of our gatherings to be able to share or explore concerns in our hearts around our queer experience. We have a brilliant rainbow top hat in which COLAGErs have an opportunity to anonymously put a topic, concern, story or question to be addressed during our group sharing time. We love this ritual and it deepens our connections. 
South Bay COLAGE, the newest COLAGE chapter in the San Francisco Bay Area, hosted their 'First Annual Kids JokeFest' in February. "I liked performing as a stand-up comedian and learning new jokes from the other kids," said Kyle Weaver, age 11. "I also learned a lot about the other kid's personalities from the kinds of jokes they told." The JokeFest took place during one of the groups regular monthly meetings. The kids had most of the meeting to rehearse and parents were invited to come back for the last half hour and enjoy the live comedy show. 
For the past three years my family has gone to Family Week in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Two years ago I started participating in the COLAGE events for youth. This is how I became involved with COLAGE. Now I am helping COLAGE grow with the COLAGE New Hampshire Seacoast chapter.