OFC will be hosting our annual gala, Night Out on Saturday, May 6th. Mark your calendars...registration now open!
If you can't make our event, please consider supporting our fundraising efforts by donating now and sharing the links with your friends, family, and professional networks.
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Last year Our Family Coalition joined the Biden Administration's LGBTQ+ Community Call stakeholder group. Attending these calls has helped us to stay informed on the Administration’s work towards uplifting LGBTQ communities as well as help us share needs that are specific to LGBTQ families and children.
Recently the administration shared their initiative on releasing the first-ever Federal Evidence Agenda on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Equity, a roadmap. While we believe this will be a good thing for our families, we want to make sure that the data collection uses an anti-racist and intersectional approach. We will continue to follow this initiative so that we can find out what this means for our families, and equally important what protections will be in place for our families.
You can find the full press release below:
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Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing the first-ever Federal Evidence Agenda on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Equity, a roadmap that federal agencies will use to ensure they are collecting the data and evidence they need to improve the lives of LGBTQI+ Americans. This Evidence Agenda delivers on a commitment made by President Biden in a June 2022 Executive Order on LGBTQI+ equality, and is an important step forward in the Administration’s work to expand the federal collection of data about sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics (“SOGI data”), and advance equity for LGTBQI+ Americans.
The Biden Administration has made important progress to advance full inclusion and equal protection for LGBTQI+ Americans. However, the effectiveness of this work has been limited by incomplete information on the number of LGBTQI+ people in the United States, their experiences engaging with federal agencies, and the disparities they face in their daily lives. The Evidence Agenda released today highlights the opportunities to advance LGBTQI+ equity that increased federal data collection and evidence building would create, and provides a roadmap to guide these efforts. Grounded in evidence, the agenda builds on and continues work taking place across federal agencies and integrates knowledge and expertise from numerous community leaders and technical experts both inside and outside the U.S. government.
The Evidence Agenda includes:
- An overview of the priority evidence gaps the Biden-Harris Administration has identified where increased SOGI data collection will support more evidence-informed programs and policies;
- Specific questions that agencies will consider as they seek to build and use evidence to improve the health and well-being of LGBTQI+ people; and
- Important guidelines for collecting SOGI data on forms, such as benefits applications, including the safeguards agencies might use to enable robust SOGI data collection while protecting individual privacy, security, and civil rights.
The Evidence Agenda released today builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic progress to advance LGBTQI+ data equity, including:
- Securing $10 million for 2023 in the bipartisan government funding bill to research adding questions about LGBTQI+ Americans to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, a vital statistical tool, to illuminate disparities LGBTQI+ people continue to face;
- Releasing one of the largest LGBTQI+ inclusive federal household surveys through the Census Bureau’s Pulse Survey, which provided vital and timely data about the higher rates of economic, housing, and food insecurity that LGBTQI+ households faced during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Releasing a comprehensive consensus study from the Department of Health and Human Services on measuring sexual orientation and gender identity data to inform research on how to best serve LGBTQI+ Americans; and
- Improving the ability of all Americans to accurately provide personal gender identity information on federal forms, including by offering passports with “X” gender markers for the first time, and removing onerous requirements for updating gender information with the Social Security Administration.
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Climate Resilience and Action for a Just Transition by and for Our Families
Mutual aid among families, neighbors, and pods. Solidarity with Indigenous communities and Land Back. Land restoration and stewardship. Reconnection to ancestral healing and medicines. Organizing locally, regionally, and globally for intersectional queer and trans, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Our LGBTQ+ families are engaged in all of this and more as we build beloved communities and heed the call for a just transition from extractive to regenerative ways of living together in the places we call home.
Climate and environmental concerns were elevated in our 2021 Community Needs Assessment, and Our Family Coalition is ready to seed dialogue and action by and for our full and expanding spectrum of LGBTQ+ families and children. We are beginning to illuminate the strengths of our community ecosystem and envision potential directions to learn together, support one another, and cultivate our collective power for change.
If you are interested in learning more about this emerging effort and being a part of initial community conversations, please complete this brief survey. You can also connect with parent organizer and Board Co-Chair, Lisa Fujie Parks at the Queer Climate Justice Day-Long Institute Saturday, February 18, 2023 (part of the Creating Change Conference in San Francisco).
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California Adoption Conference
The California Adoption Conference is a two-day virtual event featuring talks and workshops for adoptive, foster and kinship care families, adult adoptees and former foster youth, first/birth parents, and adoption professionals. Our Family Coalition is one of the five planning organizations for the conference.
The California Adoption Conference (CAC) is organized by a diverse group of non-profit organizations who are involved in pre- and post-adoption and foster care services for all members of the adoption triad including first/birth parents, adoptees and foster alum, adoptive and foster parents as well as extended family members, and the helping professionals who support them.
Regular Pricing: February 1st – March 15th
- 1 Day $125
- 2 Days $230
- CEUs $35 per day
Follow the link below for more information.
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Men Having Babies & Our Family Coalition present:
2023 West Coast Surrogacy Conference & Expo in San Francisco
March 17-19, 2023
Known for its unbiased, comprehensive conferences for gay men, the nonprofit Men Having Babies (MHB) returns to for its annual Surrogacy Conference & Gay Parenting Expo in San Francisco. Interact and consult with gay dads, experts, and over 35 reputable gay-friendly agencies, clinics, law firms, and other surrogacy providers. Learn about the medical, legal, and financial aspects of ethical surrogacy, surrogacy destinations and options, budgeting & insurance considerations, discounts, and financial assistance, accessing benefits from employers and more.
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Our Family Coalition is offering twenty-four events in the month of February, both virtually and in person. OFC programs are free to the public, but do require registration. Click on the links provided to register prior to the event to ensure your space! Check out our calendar for events!
*Please note that the gated parking lot at the OFC offices will no longer be available during business hours. Parking stalls are all currently reserved by neighboring tenants in the building. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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Weekly, IN-PERSON: SF - LGBTQ+ Parent-Child Playdate | Children 0-5 years | 11:30-12:30PM
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Description: We welcome parents and caregivers of children 0-5 years to our parent-child playdate. Join other LGBTQ identified parents in this weekly group to build community with other LGBTQ caregivers and families, share resources, and interact with their children to support their psycho-social developments, parent-child bonds, and protective factors that help strengthen our families. We will have facilitated circle time, snacks, free play, and community building.
This group will be facilitated by OFC Programs Coordinator Agua.
Dates:
02/10, 02/17, 02/24
Location: Our Family Coalition,
1385 Mission Street Suite 330,
San Francisco, CA 94143
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Weekly, IN-PERSON: OAK - LGBTQ+ Parent-Child Playdate | Children 0-5 years | 10:30-11:30PM
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Description:
We welcome parents and caregivers of children 0-5 years to our Friday morning parent-child playdate.
Be in community with other LGBTQ caregivers and families, share resources, and interact with their children to support their psycho-social developments, parent-child bonds, and protective factors that help strengthen our families. Our playdates are held weekly in both Oakland and San Francisco on Friday mornings. We will have facilitated circle time, snacks, free play, and community building.
This group will be facilitated by Mitali.
Dates:
02/10, 02/17, 02/23
Location: Lake Merritt playground between Rotary Nature Center and Lake Merritt Labryinth off of Bellevue Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610
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Bi-Weekly, IN-PERSON:
In-a-Pinch Childcare | 11AM-2PM
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Description: Feeling the pandemic fatigue? Need a break? Join us for our respite childcare offerings, available weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11AM-2PM. This essential on-site service will be held at our San Francisco office.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Parents/legal guardians utilizing the In-A-Pinch childcare services must stay onsite at Our Family Coalition's facility. Parents/legal guardians may utilize OFC's resources, i.e. computer, telephone, family building books and information, gender-inclusive parenting materials, LGBTQ inclusive children's books, etc.
Dates: 02/02, 02/07, 02/09, 02/14, 02/16, 02/21, 02/23, 02/28
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Monthly, VIRTUAL: Prospective and Expectant Parent Peer Support Group | 6PM-8PM
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Description: Are you ready to start a family, but aren't sure where to begin? Or is a child on the way, and you want to connect with other queer and trans expectant families? Whether you're trying to conceive, using surrogacy, or going through the adoption process, come to connect with others and share what is on your mind in this peer support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer prospective and expectant parents! Our group meets on the third Wednesday of each month from 6-8 pm virtually through Zoom.
Date: 02/15
Location: Virtual
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Holidays & Days of Observation
Observances and holidays in February:
- Feb 01 - Black History Month
- Feb 14 - Valentine's Day
- Feb 20 - World Day of Social Justice
- Feb 21 - Shrove Tuesday
- Feb 22 - Ash Wednesday
OFC offices will be closed on the following dates:
- Feb 09: Staff Retreat
- Feb 16: Staff retreat pt 2
- Feb 20: President's Day
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Our Family Coalition is hiring!
We are currently seeking:
To apply please email your resume, cover-letter, references, and work samples (where applicable) to info@OurFamily.org Attn: Edee Moore.
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Our Family Coalition's Mission |
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Our Family Coalition (OFC) advances equity for the full and expanding spectrum of LGBTQ+ families and children through support, education, and advocacy. Uniquely situated at the intersection of LGBTQ+ and family justice work, we are powered by community, and inspired by a love of children and families and a vision of a just society where we all belong and thrive.
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Our work is brought to you thanks to generous support from your donations,
and to the major funding partners below:
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with additional support from: |
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Ginna Brelsford & Jillian Marcellus |
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Katherine Delmar Burke School |
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• We give our respect to the Ramaytush and Chochenyo Ohlone people, on whose traditional and unceded land we are grateful to live and work, and on which our San Francisco and East Bay events take place.
• We strive to make our office and programs accessible to all families. Please let us know when you register what accommodations will help your family participate to the fullest. Read our Accessibility Statement here.
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