Join me in ACTing OUT! Oct 27-29 in Dallas
First the details...
October 27-29 the Family Pride Coalition and COLAGE are co-hosting "ACT OUT: the National Parenting Conference" in Dallas, TX.
Here's more information directly from COLAGE:
COLAGE is thrilled to announce our partnership with Family Pride on ACT OUT: The National LGBT Family Conference. This fall, hundreds of youth and adults with LGBT parents, LGBT parents and our allies will come together in Dallas for a weekend of education, empowerment, and celebration. We are looking for strong, innovative, dynamic, challenging and fresh proposals for workshops/activities that will engage young adult and/or adults who have one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parent/s.
COLAGE will offer two exciting tracks of programming during act OUT. COLAGE Crew will be a series of activities and workshops for youth ages 9-13 with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parent that will use art, games, discussions, movies, and lots of fun to allow youth to share their experiences and family backgrounds while meeting new friends. The COLAGE Leadership Track will be a full track of workshops for young adult and adults with LGBT parents focusing on how we can use our voices and our actions to make a difference, educate communities, schools, politicians and the media about people with LGBT parents, the diversity of issues and experiences of queerspawn, and how we can strengthen our skills as activists and leaders. In addition, we'll be hosting the first-ever COLAGE Chapter Institute on October 27th before the official start of the conference.
Now the commentary...
Despite some of the marketing this is not the first National Family Conference... except maybe in name. For years, Family Pride (then called the Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International), held an annual conference in July. It was at one of these conferences that six queerspawn got together to create their first organized group, which later developed into COLAGE.
My father took my brother and I to our first family conference in 1989 so that we could meet "other kids with families like ours." The friendships that I made there in Washington, D.C. and at subsequent conferences are still going strong. Conferences are a great way to share information, meet like-minded folk and re-energize.
Join myself, Abigail Garner, the COLAGE staff and more in Dallas!