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By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Thursday, March 27, 2008
As any teen with gay parents will tell you, being a part of a GLBT family is a daily challenge. The straight world doesn’t always understand family dynamics in a gay household, or worse, outsiders are quick to judge.
SunServe and the South Florida Family Pride Council are hosting the fifth annual Valuing Our Families Day on March 29 at the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.
The event will feature a series of interactive workshops, presentations and panels about fully embracing the concept of family in a gay context.
Workshops include panels for teen children of gay parents and gay parents who want to raise children, transgender families. Effective strategies for gay families in public schools will also be discussed.
Jim Lopresti, director of SunServe’s counseling and psychotherapy services, says the annual event has been developed to bring gay families together and to teach effective skills to keep them strong. Gay families are the natural progression of gay culture as it continues to evolve, he said.
“In the 1970s, coming out was about accepting our sexual selves,” Lopresti says. “The coming out issue today is family based. It’s about gay and lesbian teens and gays and lesbians having families.”
He said the event is designed to help families deal with the challenges they face every day and to introduce them to other families who can be part of their support network.
Support becomes vital for these families, particularly gay adoptive families who often are reluctant to be open up about their families since gay men and lesbians cannot legally adopt in Florida.
The event will address legislative issues surrounding gay adoption. Participants will also get an update on the plan to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, which will be on the November ballot. Miami attorney Elizabeth Schwartz, a long-time advocate on the front lines of gay family issues, will be honored with a community award.
“We wanted to take the high road — to hold our heads up high about our own families,” Lopresti said. “One of the goals is to be visible so that we don’t get the term ‘family’ hijacked and used against us.”
South Florida Family Pride is a network of GLBT families that come together to support one another and to advocate for gay family issues. There are about 300 families involved in the organization from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade County.
David Bloom, a member of SFFP, helped coordinate the all-day event. He said it’s like a “family reunion.”
“A lot of parents are still closeted,” he said. “A lot of people are still afraid. Going to a conference like this and getting the tools and support are great for the parents and for the kids.”
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