| I just
returned from my first trip to P-town (Provincetown, MA) with
Teresa, our sons, and grandma (my mom) in tow.
We spent Family
Week there, and if you aren't familiar with that,
it's one week each year where Familypride.org gathers together
an enormous group of same-sex-headed families for fun,
connection, education, and friendship. This year
there were close to 700 people in attendance, most it seemed,
from the east coast. Everywhere you look, you see gay
and lesbian-headed families wandering the streets of
Provincetown. It's a beautiful thing.
During
the long trip home I found myself wondering, "now
why is it we have to travel over 1,000 miles for our family
to experience a community of people where we are viewed and
validated as a family without questions or explanations,
where our sons can see us hold hands and express
ourselves naturally, among the general public, without
caution or concern, and where everywhere we look our sons
can see that there really are A LOT of families like
ours?" Honestly, I just find it more and more
intolerable to be so invisible, when the truth is, famlies
like ours really are everywhere.
So
I got home and I took a good look at my address book
and in a few minutes I was able to come up with forty-one
families that I know who are headed by gay or lesbian
parents right here in Indianapolis (or thereabouts).
And that's just me. How many do you know, that I don't
know? And how many families do they know, that
you and I don't know? You get the picture. We
really are everywhere. My hope is to bring us all a
little closer - close enough to find strength in our
numbers; a power yet untapped here in Indianapolis - and for
what? For starters, just for fun! Where it could
lead... who knows?
If you are reading this, you are either one of the 41 families
I have email addresses for, (or you are someone with lots of connections
to gay/lesbian headed families - so I'm hoping
you'll forward this to those folks * please!*).
Here's
what I'm going to do. I'm going to bring a little
taste of P-town (sans the crowded streets, busy traffic,
high cost for meals, and rocky beaches) to O'Mara and
Associates with our first-ever Family Night.
We
(my associate Erin
Hamilton who works with children of GLBT parents and
I) have lined up a casual (wear comfortable clothes!),
evening of fun, food (pizza, sodas, and a sweet treat), and
friends. And we are inviting gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgendered headed families (as well as any
heterosexual ally's who may want to join us) to gather
together on Friday, 6:30pm-8:30pm-ish.
We'll
provide free pizza, sodas, dessert, a kid-friendly movie, as
well as opportunities for good conversations, making new
friends, and having fun.
To
join us, all you have to do is send us a quick RSVP with a
head count for your party (we need to be sure we have enough
pizza!) at omaram@aol.com
or 317.517.0065. AND YES, PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO OTHER
FAMILIES or FRIENDS WHO MAY WANT TO JOIN US!!!
When | Where
Friday,
August 24th, 2007
6:30pm-8:30pm-ish
6450
West 10th Street Suite 7
Indianapolis,
IN 46214
317.517.0065
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