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Rochester Pride Picnic Fundraiser
On Sunday, July 21st 2013, Pride and Joy Families attended the Rochester Pride Picnic Fundraiser at Genessee Valley Park in Rochester, NY. We were in the “Kids Zone” and we were in great company – there was a story teller, balloon artists, games for the kids – the works! We were so glad to see some old friends and to meet new families, too, and had a blast drawing and playing with the kids.
The day was full of sunshine and laughter, and it seemed to us like everyone we met was having a great day. The balloon artist in the Kids Zone was making all sorts of cool creations – a monkey-in-a-palm-tree hat, swords, shields, puppies, cats, “Who Hats,” you name it! It was a great chance for us to be out in the community in Rochester, having fun and showing people what Pride and Joy Families is all about. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and thanks to our new friends for seeking us out! It was a pleasure to spend ROC Pride with you.
Pride and Joy Families Helps Out at Binghamton’s Pride Palooza Celebration
On Saturday, June 8th, the Binghamton Pride Coalition held its annual Pride Palooza in downtown Binghamton. This year, Palooza was housed on Court street and was close to many local shops and restaurants. Dozens of vendors attended the event, and the crowd just kept growing as the day went on! Pride and Joy Families was there, hosting a kids’ games and crafts area as well as an information table. We had such fun! Many families from our Pride and Joy Families network were there, and our table had anywhere between six to more than a dozen children making crafts or playing games at any given time. It was great to be able to support our local community by being a presence at Palooza.
Pride and Joy Families Attends The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton’s Pride Picnic
On Sunday, June 2nd, Pride and Joy Families attended a Pride Picnic for LGBTQ individuals and their families. The picnic, held at and hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton, was a terrific success! With over seventy people in attendance, the beautiful garden and labyrinth area of the church was filled with families enjoying picnic foods, games, and each other’s company. We hosted a children’s games and crafts table, where many little ones enjoyed creating pictures, painting and playing. We had so much fun and were glad to be there!
Pride and Joy Families Facilitates an Adoption Provider Training in Syracuse
On Tuesday, May 21st, The Central New York LGBTQ Child Welfare Coalition – featuring speakers from The Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project (that’s us!), The Q Center of Syracuse and A Thousand Moms – sponsored an LGBTQ cultural competency provider training event in Dewitt, NY. The session was very well-attended, with thirty-two attendees and five presenters from around the central New York region participating! Attendees workshopped ways to make their agencies more open and affirming of LGBTQ-identified youth and parents, as well as ways to enhance their own awareness and knowledge of the difficulties those individuals face. Speakers from several organizations gave presentations on topics ranging from LGBTQ youth within the foster system to outreach toward LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents; each speaker added another level of dynamic and nuance to the complicated and rewarding world of the child welfare system and the process of adoption.
Pride and Joy Families Attends Equality and Justice Day in Albany
On Tuesday, April 30th, The Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project traveled to Albany to attend Equality and Justice Day and to provide outreach and information about our project to the crowds that gathered there. This year’s Equality and Justice Day focused on gaining momentum and support for GENDA, the Gender Non-Discrimination Act. We attended workshops, distributed information, and also listened to several speakers alongside a crowd of about seven hundred activists, scholars and citizens who had also come to Albany for the day.
LGBT Carnival Comes to Binghamton University!
On Saturday, April 20th, the awesome staff of Camp Highlight came to Binghamton University to host a family carnival! We had nearly twenty attendees, with seven kids and twelve adults present. The mission of Camp Highlight – which is based in New York City but holds camp in Pennsylvania – is to provide a welcoming, supportive and fun sleep-away camp environment for children whose parents identify as LGBTQ. When they came to visit us in Binghamton, they brought all kinds of games, prizes and crafts and made sure that both parents and kids alike were in on the fun!
Pictures from the Pride and Joy Families Pool Party March 2013
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LGBTQ Family Carnival held in Binghamton
Forty-three adults and kids gathered on April 14th at the Binghamton YWCA for an afternoon of games, prizes, crafts, snacks and fun! Camp Highlight brought their traveling roadshow upstate to Pride and Joy territory and we had a blast. The event introduced area families to Camp Highlight, a 1-week overnight camp for children ages 8-15 with LGBTQ parents (camp is located 3 hours from Binghamton in Wernersville, PA). Special thanks to Jackie and Chris, Camp Co-Directors, for coming with their staff, and to the YW, which graciously hosted us in their newly-renovated space. We hope the Camp Highlight staff finds an excuse to come visit us again!
Check out some scenes from the Carnival:
Pride and Joy Families Valentine’s Dance held on February 12th in Binghamton
Fifty-eight adults and children, representing 16 families, chatted, danced, played, did karaoke, at heart-shaped cookies, made crafts, and generally had fun at the first-ever Pride and Joy Valentine Dance at Merlin’s Dance Bar in Binghamton. The event drew some long-time Pride and Joy families, as well as a good number of new folks. Welcome, new families! And thank you, Lauren Hering, for hosting us and for spinning great tunes (with Caleb!). Thanks also to Anne McCarthy, for donating your professional photography services and taking beautiful pictures of our families at the dance! Here's a sampling:
Click here to view the slideshow
Pride and Joy LGBTQ Families Gathered in Syracuse
Old friends and new spent two happy hours playing games, talking, and enjoying cookies and cocoa on Saturday, February 4th at the Q Center, in Syracuse. Tyler, Q Center Volunteer, welcomed us warmly and spent time during the gathering with the children ages 8 and up. Younger kids and their parents met in a separate room for their own games, crafts, and conversations. In all, 49 adults and children from 15 families attended. We extend our sincere thanks to the Q Center for sharing their beautiful space with us once again, and to Tyler for spending his afternoon with us! We plan to hold another gathering at the Q Center at the end of March for LGBTQ families with kids of all ages. Click here to view the slideshow.
More than 350 people attended the 2011 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference, April 8-10, and pre-conference professional training day, Straight Talk about LGBTQ Lives, April 8, in Rochester, NY. Thank you to our partners and volunteers who helped make these events a success!
Click below to view the slideshow
Special thanks to Mary Ferrigno, volunteer photographer at the Conference, who took most of these photos.
First-of-its-Kind Gathering of LGBTQ People and Foster/Adoption Recruitment Professionals Held in Syracuse
Click here to view the slideshow
A groundbreaking gathering of foster/adoption agency personnel, and LGBTQ* parents and prospective parents took place at the Q Center in Syracuse on November 9th. More than 50 attended the Foster Care and Adoption Information Session for LGBTQ People, including public and private agency representatives looking to recruit new families, LGBTQ foster/adoptive parents and prospective parents, an adoption attorney, and students from Ithaca College and Syracuse University. While such networking and informational sessions have taken place in New York City for many years, this meeting was the first-of-its-kind in Central New York.
The lively 2-hour session featured a resource fair, an introduction to the child welfare system, information on the steps in the process of becoming a certified foster parent, and an example activity on grief and loss, which is a part of the foster parent certification curriculum. The highlight of the program, however, was the parents’ panel, during which 6 local LGBTQ foster/adoptive families told their own stories. The panel concluded with an extensive question and answer period. There was also plenty of time for informal networking and information gathering before and after the formal presentation.
The Foster Care and Adoption Information Session for LGBTQ People in Syracuse was the first in a series of four such programs to be held in Upstate New York. Next up in the Spring of 2012 are Albany, Binghamton, and Ithaca. Sponsors of the series are A Thousand Moms (www.athousandmoms.org), Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth (www.berkshirefarm.org), and the Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project/Pride and Joy (www.prideandjoyfamilies.org). We are grateful to the Q Center @ ACR for hosting and cosponsoring this time around.
Pride and Joy Families Enjoy Annual Feast
Forty adults and their children attended Pride and Joy's traditional Thanksgiving Feast in Binghamton on Saturday, November 19, 2011. As usual, the food was delicious, and the company exceptional at the home of Dorian and Marian and family. Alexis, now a high school senior and not exactly one of the "kids" anymore, treated us to a slide show from her trip to Guatemala, where she helped build a house for a local familly. Thank you, Alexis, and thank you to our gracious hosts!
LGBTQ Family Diversity: The Intersection of Racial and Queer Identities
Keith Dickerson, Nadya Lawson, Ari Istar Lev, and Claudia Stallman presented a 1 ½ hour workshop at Unity Through Diversity, a National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender People of Color Health Summit, on October 14, 2011 at the Albany Marriot Hotel. Fourteen people attended “LGBTQ Family Diversity: The Intersection of Racial and Queer Identities,” which offered information about transracial adoption in queer families, and personal accounts from each presenter’s own family. As was noted at the session, adoption in the US increasingly crosses racial and ethnic lines, and LGBTQ adoptions are part of that trend. Through facts and shared personal experience, the workshop sought to address the complexities, unique challenges, and joys of living in queer transracial families. The presenters thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
Binghamton Pride and Joy Families Pick Apples!
On September 25, 2011, 22 adults and their children gathered at Apple Hills orchard in the Town of Maine, near Binghamton, NY to pick apples on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We also took a wagon ride, visited the farm animals, and got spooked in the haunted barn.
A great time was had by all who attended the 10th Anniversary celebration of Pride and Joy Families.
53 people, representing 19 families, gathered together at the Q Center in Syracuse for an evening of fun, food and family. Long time Pride and Joy dad, Vince Sgambati, took us on a trip down memory lane as he read from his past and current journal about life as a gay dad raising a daughter. Kids were wowed by a magician and balloon animals, and had fun with arts and crafts. Project Director, Claudia Stallman, encouraged everyone to look toward the future and see what great things lie ahead for Pride and Joy Families. We hope to see everyone at our conference in Rochester in April of 2011!
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Highlights of the 2009 Pride and Joy Families Conference
Guest Speaker Dr. Charlotte Patterson, 2009 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference.
More Videos from the 2009 Conference
'Pride and Joy' conference helps parents, kids connect
UTICA —
An unspoken ache fills 10-year-old Molly Stanton’s heart when her schoolmates use the words gay or queer to express their negative feelings toward something or someone.
The words cut deep into the fabric of the little girl’s Auburn family – made up of her sister Michaela Stanton, mother Jill Stanton, and her mother’s partner Grace Plvan. Few of her peers could possibly understand that hurt.
But 11-year-old Emily Harrigan — the daughter of lesbian parents — could relate. Like many others, the little girls got the chance to connect at this week’s 2009 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference at the Radisson Hotel Utica-Centre. That’s where 250 individuals, including 45 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, came together for three days to participate in educational workshops and social activities revolving around the joys and challenges of being part of a same-sex family. “It’s a good thing to meet other LGBT kids and parents — just to meet other kids to hear their stories, just to know there are other kids, and I’m not the only one with an LGBT family,” Molly said, as Emily stood close by near the end of the conference Sunday.
The girls, who live almost four hours apart, will build on their newfound bond as pen pals, they said. Those bonds are important, some said.“It’s so important for our children to find support and commonality, said Claudia Stallman, project director of the Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project, an event sponsor. The weekend’s workshops and panels were one way of providing that for children and for adults. Workshops on topics such as legal protection for LGBT parents and communicating with your children about being a part of a LGBT family were among the conference’s most popular choices, Stallman said. Education and knowledge – for all people – about LGBT families is vital, she added.“It’s very important for us to pave the way for our children, so they don’t have to spend their lives defending themselves,” she said.
Some same-sex parents in attendance at the conference said the event helped them cope with the extra challenges their families face.“The world is sort of set up for families with a mom and a dad; Pride and Joy makes living in that world a little easier,” said Sean Massey, a Binghamton common council member who, with his partner of 23 years, adopted son Alfie Massey, 6, six years ago.“When we’re not at the conference and Alfie’s going to school, we have other families like ours, but we are in the minority,” he said.
Being a part of that minority presents challenges from others, like ignorance or faulty assumptions. “There aren’t materials at school that might look like our families, there are assumptions made, and we end up having to educate,” Massey said. “And although it gets tiring, it’s certainly worthwhile,” he said, taking a moment to gently scold Alfie for taking a ball from one of his older peers.
The minority spot isn’t always challenging, however. Often, what bonds parents are their children, and the title of parent connects Massey, his partner Loren Couch and Alfie with heterosexual-parent-led families, Massey said.“What I notice is the way we connect with one another is not about my partner, it’s not about sexual orientation, it’s about us both being parents,” he said. “And although I always anticipate there being negative reaction, most of the time we talk about the issues of raising a 6-year-old – issues at school and making play dates.”
That blind acceptance is how Emily hopes others will see her family of two moms and two adopted daughters. “(Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) parents are just like anyone else on the inside, but they just look different from the outside,” Emily said, leaning her head into the crook of mom Cindy Harrigan’s arm.
http://www.uticaod.com/archive/x1098184948/Pride-and-Joy-conference-helps-parents-kids-connect
pressconnects.com
Press & Sun Bulletun
April 19, 2009
VALERIE ZEHL / Staff Photo
Patty Ross, left, Heather Hauer and their two children, Harrison, 3, and Madeline, 1, find support, guidance and friendship in the Pride and Joy Families group.
Family of 4 builds on gay pride
It's one of a half-dozen white houses on the block; a working-class two-story like many in Johnson City. Inside, two parents and two little ones play together in the living room; two cats and a dog compete for available sun puddles.
Jelly letters spell out W-e-l-c-o-m- e on the front window; hearts and messages of love decorate interior walls.
This home, though, is a bit different than most.
Heather Hauer and Patty Ross are the parents. They're both women, life partners who have been together more than a decade.
Artificially inseminated from the same anonymous donor twice, Heather gave birth to Harrison, 3, and months-old daughter, Madeline. Patty adopted both children in a second-parent legal procedure.
Patty, 42, confesses that she was envious that Heather got to carry the babies under her heart; that Heather, 31, could breast-feed them when they cried.
They're both called "Mommy," and they've had no troubles at all with neighbors or other acquaintances in the community.
They've also found support in the Pride and Joy Families group of other parents like themselves.
Locally, more than 70 families are part of Pride and Joy, which offers education as well as fellowship and fun - and an upcoming conference at which Gov. David A. Paterson's bill regarding gay marriage will likely be a hot topic.
The 2009 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference will be held April 24-26 in Utica.
"The conference will bring together lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender/ queer (LGBTQ) parents, their children and aspiring parents for three days of learning and socializing, " explains Claudia Stallman, director of the Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project. The project - with co-presenters Family Equality Council (www.familyequality.org) and COLAGE (www.COLAGE.org) - and Gay Parent Magazine (www.gayparentmag.com<) will sponsor the event.
"As with the two previous Pride and Joy Conferences, held in Ithaca in 2001 and Binghamton in 2005, families will gather from all over upstate New York and beyond. Adult workshop topics include legal and policy protections for families, considering parenthood, raising healthy trans-racially adopted children, and talking to teens about sex."
Children and youth programs will be provided by COLAGE, known nationally for their fun youth empowerment and leadership development programming for children with one or more LGBTQ parents," Claudia says.
Madeline is still too young to understand, but Harrison already asks questions and notices the differences in his family.
Talking with parents in similar situations has been helpful to Heather and Patty, although there's really not a lot of explaining to do: Harrison and Madeline have two parents who love them, and each other, very much.
Our House Film Tour
2005 LGBT Families Conference
The Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project held its first weekend-long LGBT* families conference from November 11 to 13 at the Binghamton Regency Hotel in Binghamton , NY.
Our 2005 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference was a huge success with 70 families participating. Thanks to everyone who helped make the conference so spectacular!