Gay-Rights Struggles Affect Kids

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - The queens get all the attention. The politicians grab all the headlines.
But in the battle for gay rights, the children of lesbian, gay and transgender parents often pay the price.
It could be small, like having only one parent legally able to sign a permission slip. Or big, like the risk of foster home should something happen to their biological parent. Or personal, like rejection from an uncle or grandfather.
For the past three days at the Oakland Convention Center, nearly 2,500 activists nationwide from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community have gathered to organize, strategize, and push the gay movement forward.
The national debate has recently focused on gay marriage. But for many the bigger concern is social justice, said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, sponsor of the Creating Change Conference.
"For the vast majority of gay people, the issues facing their daily lives are not the marriage license. ... It's whether you can see a partner in a hospital or get Social Security benefits."
Or feel welcome at church.
"Children (of gay parents) face discrimination on so many levels," said Beth Teper, director of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, or COLAGE. "Religious institutions are blasting our families, spreading messages of hate, when we know our families are all about love."
Saturday's conferencepresented "In My Shoes," a movie produced by middle and high school-aged participants in the San Francisco-based program.
It featured Alex, 11, who used to lie about why he had two mothers.
And Marina Gatto, daughter of two lesbians, who was told by a teacher to "make up a father" as her classmates traced their family trees.
"Our families aren't easy. In fact they're very complicated. We're being very creative in how we create our families. That's something the media is not quite ready for," said Meredith Fenton, COLAGE's program director who is a daughter of lesbians.
"These are youth. They just want you to hear their stories."
from The Oakland Tribune