16th Annual Rainbow Families Conference in Minnesota

The Rainbow Families Conference is the premier community building and learning event for current and prospective LGBT parents, their children, family members and friends, area educators and community members.

This incredible conference is a special resource for Minnesota and surrounding states and is the largest of its kind in the nation. Participants enjoy a day of learning and sharing together and also leave with concrete skills and information relevant to their own lives and needs.

April 9, 2011
Anwatin/Bryn Mawr Schools
256 Upton Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55405

Click here to register and/or learn more.

LGBT Families Readying for White House Easter Egg Roll Tickets!

In the past few years hundreds of LGBT families have tried to get tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll as part of an outing by the Family Equality Council. The campaign event is an opportunity for America to come face to face with loving and committed gay and lesbian couples raising children.

This year there are two big differences to note. For starters, Obama has reached out to the Family Equality Council inviting LGBT families to sign up (what a change from the former administration), and 2nd the sign-up for tickets will be done online as opposed to waiting in line.

March 2006 video coverage of LGBT families going to egg roll.


Tickets will be available on March 26th, nobody knows the time, so from midnight tonight start checking, they will run out fast!

White House Easter Egg-roll

If you are chosen for tickets, let the FEC know! Send an email to info@familyequality.org with the subject heading “Egg Roll Tickets” and your family’s contact information.

Tell the NYTimes What YOU Think About Their Editorial!

Calls to action aren’t always meant to stop bad things from happening. Sometimes we act to show our thanks or support. The New York Times has greatly increased its meaningful coverage of LGBT issues, especially family issues, over the last few years.

Just a few days ago the NYTimes penned this eloquent editorial on Arkansas’s Act 1, the ballot measure that banned all unmarried, cohabitating couples (including all gay and lesbian couples) from fostering or adopting children in the state.

Join the Family Equality Council in praising the NY times for their positive coverage and editorials of LGBT issues.

To submit a letter to the New York Times, follow these guidelines from their letter submission page:

Letters for publication should be no longer than 150 words, must refer to an article that has appeared within the last seven days, and must include the writer’s address and phone numbers. No attachments, please.

Send a letter to the editor by e-mailing letters@nytimes.com or faxing (212)556-3622.

You may also mail your letter to:

Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018

"My Family" - Video Compilation of LGBTQ Families

Obama's Letter to the Family Equality Council

Barack Obama on LGBT families:

"In light of the recent and offensive statements by McCain on the right of same-sex couples to adopt, Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Equality Council, wrote the following to the Obama campaign:

"As a lesbian mother and the executive director of Family Equality Council, the national organization working to ensure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families by building community, changing hearts and minds and advancing social justice for all families, I know how hard parents work to raise happy, healthy children. Regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identities, regardless of how many parents or caregivers are present in a family, all parents begin each day with their children at the forefront of their thoughts. On behalf of diverse families, I ask for your plan to recognize, respect, protect and celebrate all of the loving families you seek to represent... These families want to know how your administration will address their needs. What policies and positions will you take to make sure that all loving families are recognized, respected, protected and celebrated? How will you lead all families to a brighter future?"

This afternoon the Obama campaign posted excerpts from a response from Barack Obama himself which reads as follows:

"While we live in a nation that is enriched by a vast array of diverse traditions, cultures and histories, it is our commonality that most defines us. The desire to build a life with a loved one, to provide for a family and to have children who will grow and thrive -- these are desires that all people share, regardless of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. My own experience has taught me this lesson well. I was born to a single mother, my devoted grandparents helped raise me, and then I married the woman of my dreams and had two beautiful daughters.

We know that the cost of the American dream must never come at the expense of the American family. For decades we’ve had politicians in Washington who talk about family values, but we haven’t had policies that value families. Instead, it’s harder for working parents to make a living while raising their kids. It's even harder to get a break.

That's why I'll double spending on quality after-school programs - so that you can know your kids are safe and secure. And that's why I'll expand the Family Medical Leave Act to include more businesses and millions more workers; to let parents participate in school activities with their kids; and to cover elderly care. And we'll finally put federal support behind state efforts to provide paid family and medical leave. We'll require employers to provide seven paid sick days each year. We'll enforce laws that prohibit caregiver discrimination. And we'll encourage flexible work schedules to better balance work and parenting for mothers and fathers. That's the change that working families need.

We have to do more to support and strengthen LGBT families. Because equality in relationship, family, and adoption rights is not some abstract principle; it's about whether millions of LGBT Americans can finally live lives marked by dignity and freedom. That’s why we have to repeal laws like the Defense of Marriage Act. That’s why we have to eliminate discrimination against LGBT families. And that’s why we have to extend equal treatment in our family and adoption laws.

I’ll be a president that stands up for American families – all of them."

Crossposted from Blabbeando