Family Pride: Training Gay Parents To Present Their Case
In reading this article, it appears that Rosie implements this just about every day on The View:
Armed with a slick 162-page handbook and coaching from daylong seminars, gay and lesbian parents across the country are learning to present the most convincing case that their families are normal, even mainstream.
A national training campaign, started in 2005 by Family Pride in Washington, and ramped up in the past few months, prepares gay parents to be spokespeople and counter critics of the growth in families led by same-sex couples. About 30 parents and other supporters of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights – plus about 15 children – attended a training session in San Francisco over the weekend. Los Angeles and San Diego are next.
The campaign to create a speakers bureau of people available to appear in the media and before lawmakers is bearing fruit. A Texas couple who were among the first to complete the training were slated to tell their story on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show Monday.
At the seminar, parents worked to shape their stories into compelling appeals for civil rights. They heard about research on gay and lesbian people who raise children and on the terminology that most appeals to straight Americans.
“Our families are a real political tool,” trainer Trina Olson told the group, which included people from a spectrum of ages and ethnicities. The event was a collaboration of multiple family-advocacy groups, including the national Family Pride organization and the San Francisco Bay Area’s Our Family Coalition and Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere.
Participants heard about using words and phrases that signal what they have in common with people around them – “being a fair person,” “in it together” and “building strong families” – rather than focusing on gay rights and sexual orientation.
Instead of appealing for “marriage equality,” parents should talk about what it means to be barred from marriage. The term “discrimination” should be shelved and replaced with the more concrete idea of “hurting,” Olson told the parents in San Francisco.
A few things jumped out at me:
- Why the need for a handbook to tell you that you’re normal?
- The issue is not political. It is personal. Based on the fact that states that have pased amendments barring homosexual marriage are mostly Democratic leaning states, one can assume reasonably that the issue is not a Republican vs Democratic fight.
- You can use all the buzz words you like..people are immune to them…our politicians are to thank for that. They feel that by changing a word, people won’t be put off…guess what, people are smarter than that. Examples: surge, debate, and discussion are a few that come to mind.
- How about we stop with the political weaponry and just live our lives. Get the most basic rights taken care of first. Get partnership benefits and work up from there. Keep the radicals out of the process.
Linked with Homosexual radicals admit at conference: Kids are stage props
