Love and commitment are the foundation of the San Francisco-based Our Family Coalition, which is celebrating 20 years of offering resources to LGBTQ people and their children.
The coalition's executive director, Judy Appel, was an activist and lesbian mother when she recognized that people and families in her community did not have a voice, or access to key benefits like family leave and integration policies in the workforce.
In the movement's earliest days, “we passed out fliers to people who looked gay,” encouraging them to join the conversation, Appel said.
After talking about the effects of discrimination on LGBTQ parents' work and personal lives, as well as those of their children, locals took action in what they dubbed the 'All Our Families' movement. They organized and educated mainstream institutions about the wide range of issues LGBTQ families face, covering everything from unequal legal protections to how to respond when a 10-year-old says “That’s so gay" in the schoolyard.
In 2000, All Our Families and Our Family Bay Area merged to form Our Family Coalition, whose offices are located at Mission and Grace Streets, just off of 10th Street. There, OFC offers family support and parent leadership workshops to Bay Area residents and advocates for LGBTQ families at the local and federal levels.
Appel, right, and OFC's director of policy and communications, Renata Moreira, left, with California Senator Barbara Boxer.
Specialized personnel lead support groups and workshops for current and prospective LGBTQ parents on a wide range of topics, from positive parenting to fostering or adopting children. OFC also shares a wealth of resources and current events for families in its newsletter, which also reaches families in Oakland and Berkeley.
For OFC, bringing in families from across the Bay Area is key to implementing lasting change. “Intersectional dialogue provides an opportunity to create visibility for people and families of a culture that has ‘laid low’ as a movement,” Appel said.
In just the past two years, OFC has trained over 3,000 teachers in decreasing bias and discrimination in schools. They've encouraged schools to offer access to a curriculum that includes the Marriage Equality Act, which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
“I felt the need for LGBTQ families to have a voice,” Appel said of the idea behind the training. “We [also] dream and have worries for our kids.”
An OFC family gathering in Walnut Creek.
OFC's annual gala, this Friday, May 13th, marks the organization's 20th year in San Francisco. “The warm night will celebrate our achievements, and recognize how far we have come," says Appel.
Tickets to tomorrow night's gala are still available online. Community members interested in joining or volunteering can find more information at ourfamily.org.
