interns at Family Equality Council this summer. I am a rising
senior at Boston University majoring in Public Relations and
minoring in Psychology. I’m thrilled to be working with such an
important organization during this exciting and pivotal time in our
nation’s LGBTQ history.
Since it’s father’s day, I thought I would share a story about a
group of gay dads who will be spending the day working to increase
LGBTQ visibility in a rather unlikely place – one of the nation’s
largest churches. These dads, along with other LGBTQ families and allies are visiting
the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California as the
final stop on a six-week tour of some of the country’s
mega-churches. Titled the American Family Outing, the road trip is aimed
at opening up face-to-face dialogues between LGBTQ families and the
churches’ congregations. I think events like this are essential in
the fight for equality because they add a much-needed human element
to the preconceptions (and misconceptions) of what it means to be a
LGBTQ family. Allowing gay and straight families to come together
and share their commonalities and differences brings our country
one step closer to understanding and one step farther away from
ignorance.
I find the efforts of both the families and the churches to be
inspiring, and it is my hope that my time with Family Equality
Council will have a similar positive impact.