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Pauly Pagenhart

Guess who’s being honored in this year’s SF Pride Parade?

Hello, beautiful families and friends,

Our Family Coalition is honored to be among this year’s San Francisco Pride Community Grand Marshals and Honorees!

We will be accepting San Francisco Pride’s José Julio Sarria History Maker Award * on behalf of the FAIR Education Act Implementation Coalition, for which we’re the convening and lead agency.  We’re honored to accept the award on behalf of our many FAIR Education Act Implementation Coalition partners: The Committee on LGBT History, GSA Network,  the LA LGBT Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California, the Safe Schools Coalition, and leaders such as Don Romesburg, Carolyn Laub, and Judy Appel, who worked hard in or alongside Our Family Coalition for years to get LGBT history into CA’s textbooks.

Fourteen individuals and organizations have also been recognized among this year’s Community Grand Marshals and Honorees for the inspiring work they have been doing on behalf of our community. We offer them our hearty congratulations, and invite you to check them out here.

San Francisco Pride’s José Julio Sarria History Maker Award is given to “Bay Area people who make extraordinary changes in the way society views the LGBTQ community.”  And what an honor for the FAIR Ed Act Implementation Coalition to be awarded it! Because that’s exactly the aim of our work.

Our goal, shared by the half-dozen-plus agencies we lead in this coalition, is to ensure that the six million students in California’s K-12 public schools – along with all our future generations – receive an education that includes knowledge about LGBTQ people, our families, and our contributions in history and social science.

It has taken more than a village and more than a decade to get this far, and the work is far from done to make this goal into a reality.  Please help us keep working county by county, district by district, to ensure that teachers are able to receive the training and support they want and need to deliver this curriculum effectively. For our kids, and for the generation that’s growing up alongside them.

And stay tuned for more! Because we just may be marching a little closer to the front of the parade this year. 😉

With pride and gratitude,

Renata Moreira,
Executive Director, Our Family Coalition

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Pauly Pagenhart

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Thank you for joining us in celebrating and supporting LGBTQ families.

Every contribution, whether one-time or monthly, helps us honor the extraordinary LGBTQ families in our community. Our Family Coalition is the only organization in California dedicated to advancing equity and advocating on behalf of our families, and one of the few nationwide. By giving, you stand with us in pride and solidarity, ensuring that every family feels seen, valued, and celebrated. Your support has been crucial and with your help we can continue this legacy for generations.

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Teacher Trainings and Professional Development

Each of OFC’s outstanding and practical workshops include:

  • Content learning, lesson plans and book lists​ that support teachers to have effective
    and developmentally supportive dialogue when teaching LGBTQ History
  • Reflective activities​ that allow participants to connect with their intersectional identities,
    gender stories and explore the dynamics of implicit bias to better challenge gender stereotypes
  • Current language and techniques​ to support families and teachers to talk more fluently
    and comfortably about all types of difference
  • Frameworks and models for effectively organizing coalitions​ interested in accountability
    and policy change in schools and organizations

Workshop topics:

  • LGBTQ History​: Teaching the New California History and Social Science Framework
  • LGBTQ-Focused Education Law and Policy​:​ Understanding Obligations and Protections
  • Implementing LGBTQ History:​ From Policy to Practice in your Region
  • Family Diversity:​ ​ The Early Childhood Classroom and Making All Families Visible
  • Gender Inclusion:​ ​ What is a Gender Spectrum and How Do I Reduce Gender Bias?
  • Transgender and Non-Binary Students​:​ How to Create Inclusive Spaces for All Genders
  • Anti-Bullying & Social Emotional Learning​:​ A Welcoming Schools Approach
  • Family and School Advocacy:​ Building Coalitions for Sustainable Change

For more information or to schedule a workshop, please contact the OFC Education Team: ​education@ourfamily.org

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  • in a blog post on our blog (published and archived on our website, which is viewed by over 2,500 unique visitors each month)
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Listings must be:

  • Designed for or of particular value to LGBTQ families and children and/or prospective LGBTQ parents
  • Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, if in person, or available online/ virtually, if outside Northern California

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We love lifting up the good work that members of our community and other social change organizations are doing in the Bay Area and beyond! Let us know if you wish to share a community event or opportunity with our families.

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We’re looking for stories by or about LGBTQ+ parents/caregivers or prospective parents, as well as the grandparents or adult children of LGBTQ+ headed families.

Generally, we hope your story will not only inform other families on LGBTQ+ family topics, but also let others know that they are not alone in the journey of advocating for our families.

Whether you feel like you’ve arrived, or your story is not yet complete, know that we can keep one another company all along the way. And it always helps to feel a little less alone.

  • How is your family structured?
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  • How were you able to navigate these challenges?
  • What has been the impact on you/your spouse/children?
  • What systems/people helped guide you?
  • What advice would you have for other LGBTQ-headed families – or perhaps just your younger self?
  • How have you or your family dealt with challenges at schools, medical providers, or elsewhere?
  • Were there times when you expected resistance and instead were welcomed?
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