myself as a new team member here at Family Pride. I hopped onboard
this summer and have not had the chance to look back. I have been
amazed (and yes, sometimes overwhelmed) by how hard the staff works
everyday to do all that Family Pride does. I thought this would be
easiest to do in a brief interview, and lacking an interviewer I
have decided to interview myself.
Give us the basics?
The basics: I am a 6’4”, half-Aussie graduate of Bowdoin
College (Bio Major, Gay and Lesbian Studies Minor) who is
passionate about many social justice issues, especially LGBTQ
equality.
Why Family Pride?
I think it is important to start this answer by saying family
equality hasn’t always been important to me. Growing up in a
conservative military town meant that I never (knowingly) met
anyone whose family pushed the bounds of the “traditional”
nuclear family very far. Without realizing it, I absorbed the
sentiment that the “traditional” family represented an ideal
and that deviations from that ideal meant the family became
“dysfunctional.” Even arriving at Bowdoin and coming out, I
secretly struggled with my desire to one day be a father and my
internalized, homophobic fear of deviation. Then I met and began to
baby-sit for two sets of lesbian mums. After observing first-hand
how incredibly loving and caring these families were, my internal
struggle came to rest only to be replaced by a controlled rage at
the hoops LGBTQ-headed families had to jump through to simply build
and protect themselves. So I am here at Family Pride for two
reasons: 1) to help our families tell their stories to people like
me who only need to be exposed to be convinced of their legitimacy
and 2) to fight for that legitimacy to be legally recognized.
Favorite food?
Chicken pesto pizza from anywhere or anytime. Start your morning
with a piece one day and find out what I mean. Delish.