Press Room

• CELEBRATING SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE 2022 WITH OUR FAMILY COALITION - Our Family Coalition Family Garden CANCELED at San Francisco Pride, 2022, FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2022

Our Family Coalition (OFC) families and staff are so excited to celebrate LGBTQ+ San Francisco Pride 2022. However, the SF Pride planning committee has informed us that due to an administrative error, the anticipated Pride Family Garden, historically hosted by OFC, will not be present at the Civic Center Plaza on Sunday, June 26th.
This setback has reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring that LGBTQ+ families are celebrated, supported, seen and heard. Too often, there is no space made or programming that centers LGBTQ+ families and this is why our mission is still so critical.
Mimi Demissew, Executive Director at Our Family Coalition - "It is clear that there are not enough support networks and structures that provide community, safety, and advocacy for LGBTQ families. We do not have enough visibility and are often overlooked even within our communities. That is why supporting OFC is even more critical today. We continue to be steadfast in our commitment to support and advocate on behalf of LGBTQ families and children. We invite you and your family to join us and our family this Pride month and going forward in these efforts." [PDF of the full Press Release]

 

• We must remain vigilant and resist Trump Administration's Parting Shots Against LGBTQ+ Families, January 15, 2021

In the alarming, chaotic days of the Trump Administration, Our Family Coalition (OFC) remains vigilant, joining the calls to condemn the Department of Health and Human Services’ last-minute and discriminatory rule change striking down anti-LGBT+ discrimination protections in federally-funded adoption and health services. Eradicating health and human service anti-discrimination protections is anti-family and undemocratic any time, but it’s unconscionable during a lethal pandemic, when many of these services are life-saving and life-sustaining. [PDF of full Press Release]

• OFC Denounces Miscarriage of Justice in Breonna Taylor Case, September 24, 2020

As an organization dedicated to families, equity, and justice, Our Family Coalition (OFC) is outraged at the Kentucky Attorney General’s failure to bring appropriate and substantial charges against the three officers responsible for the murder of Breonna Taylor. Worse, the fact that the only charges brought were of “wanton endangerment” of the lives of Taylor’s white neighbors is simply indefensible. More...

• Join us in welcoming our new Executive Director, September 14, 2020

We are both thrilled and honored to announce that Mimi Demissew has been selected as Our Family Coalition's new Executive Director! We conducted a rigorous, nationwide search, supported by an internal committee and the Kevin Chase Executive Search Group. Over the course of the past year we reviewed many excellent candidates, but it was clear when we met Mimi: she is an exceptional leader, and an ideal one for our organization at an exceptional time in our history. More...

• Open Letter About Coronavirus and the LGBTQ+ Communities, March 11, 2020

As the spread of the novel coronavirus a.k.a. COVID-19 increases, many LGBTQ+ people are understandably concerned about how this virus may affect us and our communities. The undersigned want to remind all parties handling COVID-19 surveillance, response, treatment, and media coverage that LGBTQ+ communities are among those who are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of this virus.  More...

• Care & Caution During Coronavirus: Why OFC is Temporarily Going Virtual, March 5, 2020

The first cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States not traceable to recent travel have been confirmed, and the Bay Area is emerging as one of the most affected regions ...Vulnerable populations include those over 50, those over 80, and those with preexisting respiratory illnesses or compromised immune systems – all of whom are part of the OFC community. More...

• OFC's Executive Director Search, February 3, 2020

On behalf of the Staff and Board of Directors, we are excited to let you know that Our Family Coalition’s search for a new, permanent Executive Director is in full swing! The search was formally launched in January after several weeks of pre-work, including a series of conversations, interviews, and surveys with OFC stakeholders.  Here’s the Recruitment Profile developed as a result of this process. More...

• CA Approves LGBT-Inclusive Textbooks for Adoption by State Board of Ed, October 4, 2017

On Thursday, September 29th, the California Department of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) voted to approve 10 History-Social Science K-8 textbooks which were inclusive of the LGBT content mandated by the state’s 2016 History-Social Science Framework. More...

• We stand with 114 other national organizations: this ACA repeal attacks America's most vulnerable, September 25, 2017

This morning, Our Family Coalition joined with 114 other national organizations in expressing our opposition to the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. More...

• Trump Administration Attacks on Trans Service Members and Working Americans' Healthcare Are Intolerable Assaults on the Most Vulnerable, July 26, 2017

This morning President Trump mounted another divisive attack on transgender Americans, banning transgender people from serving in the military – the largest employer in the world –  in any capacity. ...We will not tolerate this administration making pariahs of these extraordinarily brave Americans, and neither will we be distracted from the work of defending working families’ critical health care support.  More...

• Senate Move to Debate Repeal of ACA an Attack on Most Vulnerable American Families, July 25, 2017

Our Family Coalition joins our colleagues and friends in condemning the U.S. Senate’s recent “motion to proceed” to repeal fundamental elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It is an affront to all American families, particularly the most vulnerable. More...

• Joint Statement with Forward Together on the Travel Ban and Its Impact on LGBTQ Families, June 30, 2017

Our Family Coalition joins Forward Together to condemn the State Department’s re-issued, “modified” travel ban on visitors or refugees from six Muslim-majority nations. ...By permitting entry only to those found to have “bona fide” connections to the US, the Trump State Department has now defined what a close family tie is. More...

• Now Is the Time for Love: A Joint Statement with the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, June 19, 2017

Alongside our colleagues at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, we issued this statement today, in light of the recent anniversaries of the Pulse and Charleston massacres, each of which came during a week that also saw mass shootings at a San Francisco UPS facility and a baseball diamond in Alexandria, Virginia. More...

• Our Family Coalition Celebrates 21 Years Advocating for LGBTQ Families at Night Out Gala, April 29, 2017

 On Friday, May 12, 2017, Our Family Coalition (OFC), California’s premier LGBTQ family organization, brings together 400 attendees for a Night Out to celebrate the organization’s 21 years of advocacy, education, and community-building. More...