Family Pride’s Blog

Groups for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) parents build community power and are valuable resources for the family equality movement. Moreover, they’re a great place to share ideas, discuss parenting tips and to find support.

Here are six tips that will make your parents group experience even more spectacular:

1. Don’t reinvent the wheel. If you want to be a part of a parents group, there may already be one in your local community to join. Family Pride offers a vast state-by-state listing of local groups. Check it out.
2. Establish a regular meeting time. It builds momentum and creates structure.
3. Harness the power of the internet (and recognize its limits). The internet may be your most powerful tool in working with your parents group or starting a group from scratch. Meetup.com offers countless LGBTQ parents meetups across the country. Tap into their network. Consider creating a Yahoo or Google group to organize your members. But remember, the internet is a means, not an end. The internet is not inclusive of all communities, especially lower-income communities. Don’t do all of your outreach online.
4. Build partners and coalitions. Don’t go it alone. Reach out to local LGBTQ friendly businesses and churches, bookstores, schools and local LGBTQ papers. You’ll be able to secure resources like free advertising or meeting space if you reach out.
5. Organize. The most effective parents groups are organized with phone trees, mission statements and written outreach plans. If you don’t know how to create these, download the resources from Family Pride’s Parents Group Corner.
6. Have fun. And keep in touch with Family Pride for ideas or resources.

Do you have any additional parents group tips? If so, we want to hear them. Leave a comment.

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