Our Family Coalition strives to increase visibility and achieve justice and full equality for LGBTQ families. Along with our families, we work with local, state and national coalitions to advocate for change on issues relevant to our families, including marriage equality and healthcare reform. In the media and in political forums, we work to improve public perception of and policy for LGBTQ families.

Our Family Coalition recognizes that our families live within every community, and are of every racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic group. As a result, we strive to work in collaboration with other social justice issues such as immigration, welfare rights and disability rights to further the rights of our families.

Immigration

Join us for a march and rally on May 1st at 24th and Mission starting at 3pm for inclusive immigration reform!  Click the poster below for more information:

Under federal law, legal residents are unable to petition for their same-sex partner or spouse to immigrate to the United States. The policies of the INS have a magnified impact on LGBTQ families who in addition to being separated from their partner and children, may face heightened homophobia in their family of origin. Our Family Coalition recognizes that this is an issue which affects our members and their families.
For more information and resources:

Immigration Equality 
212.714.2904  www.immigrationequality.org

Immigration Equality is a national organization that works to end discrimination in U.S. immigration law, to reduce the negative impact of that law on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive people, and to help obtain asylum for those persecuted in their home country based on their sexual orientation, transgender identity or HIV-status. Through education, outreach, advocacy, and the maintenance of a nationwide network of resources, we provide information and support to advocates, attorneys, politicians and those who are threatened by persecution or the discriminatory impact of the law.

Marriage Equality

It is our belief that achieving the right to marry for same-gender couples is an important step both in achieving equality and teaching our children that their families have the same opportunities as those of their friends.  While marriage equality is an important right, it is only one battlefield upon which we should be fighting for true and full equality for LGBTQ people, and our families.

Our Family Coalition is proud to play an active role in the fight for Marriage Equality in California. We were plaintiffs in the recent Marriage cases that won the right of same-gender people to marry in California. We were active in the unsuccessful efforts to defeat Proposition 8 in 2008, bringing the voices of parents into the public eye.

Health Care

Our Family Coalition is proud to be a founding member of the newly formed LGBT Health and Human Services Network, housed within Equality California, a statewide coalition of LGBT and allied organizations working to provide non-HIV health and human services to LGBT Californians and their families. The Network works to prioritize the health needs of the LGBT community in California and connect existing organizations with statewide funding sources that have not necessarily been directed toward LGBT communities in the past. In addition to advocating for funding, the Network also works to improve the cultural competency of state agencies that serve or interact with LGBT communities in the provision of state health or human services. Our Family Coalition brings the voice of parents and our unique health concerns to the table.

Welfare Rights

Women of color and queers both suffer under national and state welfare policies
such as the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA, 1996) that promote restricting access to welfare services through family caps, two-parent income ineligibility, and suitable home requirements. These policies ultimately promote marriage and the so-called “nuclear family” as the answer to getting and staying off of welfare. The combination of such policies with positive reinforcement tactics like welfare benefits bonuses for welfare mothers who marry have a magnified impact on queer parents on welfare, who are not able to marry their spouse under federal law.  Our Family Coalition works with welfare advocates to support broader community efforts and bring the voice of LGBTQ parents to the struggle for more productive and supportive welfare policies.