This morning as I packed heart-shaped Valentine’s
Day cookies for my four-year-old twins, I thought about what really
matters to me – my family and the love we share. It saddens me to
know that our love is under attack.
On Valentine’s Day, we’re inundated with messages of what our love
“should be.” We are Hallmarked, Godiva’ed and 1-800-flower’ed to
the point of nausea. But on a day that is supposed to celebrate the
bonds of love, where are our families? Why aren’t lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender or queer-parented families openly included in
this celebration? Why can’t we even find a Hallmark eCard that
accurately reflects the depth and breadth of love and family?
There are so many small things that we as parents can do to make
the world a better place for our children. We can donate inclusive
books to libraries, attend school board and PTA meetings and
support the work of Family
Pride.
For the price of a small box of chocolates or a few roses,
you
can help us make schools safe for your children. You can help
us train parents to be advocates. You can help us distribute
toolkits to local parents groups in your community.
in Family Pride’s fundraising campaign through sixdegrees.org.
Kevin Bacon will award a gift of $10,000 to the 6 organizations
that get the highest number of donations.
If each of our members gives
just $10, there is no doubt that we will secure $10,000 from
Kevin Bacon. We need to solidify our leading position in this
campaign. This donation will fund the next wave of OUTSpoken
trainings across the country, arming families in your community to
fight for equality.
It’s not about how much we raise-it’s about the total number of
donations. That’s why we’re asking you to donate
$10 now in honor of your family on Valentine’s Day. We need all
of our members to participate in this amazing campaign.
I’ve made my donation for Tim, Tom and Cheryl. Will you make
yours?
From my family to yours, Happy Valentine’s Day.
Best wishes,
Jennifer Chrisler
Executive Director