Family Pride welcomes “Families Joined by Love”
David on Sep 3rd 2007
As a newcomer to the Family Pride blog, I’d like to thank David for inviting me to make a guest contribution. I’m Xan, Vice President of Families Joined by Love and enthusiastic ally of the LGBT community.
Families Joined by Love is a new and totally unique resource for LGBT families, and allies; we offer books, resources, and discussion communities that address a variety of issues LGBT individuals face in planning for their families and their futures. On our site, you can find everything from graphic novels about coming-of-age as a lesbian with a gay father, to discussion forums about donor conception and surrogacy, to extensive listings of support groups, to estate and financial planning guides. We take pride in offering an inventory of books and resources that is not only diverse, but also dynamic: if you suggest an additional inventory item or resource to us, we will make every effort to provide that item in-house.
When my business partner, Laurie Wallmark, started up her original “Joined by Love” mail-order book catalog for LGBT individuals, she wanted to make a positive impact for this demographic by empowering LGBT people with knowledge they can use in overcoming the obstacles they can face in leading satisfying family lives. Earlier this year, Laurie and I were working together on a different project and realized that the time was now right to revive and revamp the old “Joined by Love” catalog for a new era. Whether your dream is to raise children, become an advocate or adoption liaison for LGBT families, or understand your parents’ relationship better, the brand-new Families Joined by Love has much to offer.
I can say with certainty that working with Laurie to create Families Joined by Love from the ground up has challenged and satisfied me more than any other professional venture, and has likewise inspired me to follow my own dreams as a professional. I have no doubt that wherever I go and whatever challenges I take on in the long run, I will continue the fight for marriage equality and related rights. So while it may sound trite, I’ve personally gotten involved with the marriage equality movement for the simple reason that making a legal commitment to one’s partner is a fundamental right, not a privilege or a conditional liberty.
As you can likely tell, I’m nothing if not loquacious, and would welcome any of you contacting me. If you’re curious to learn more about what we do over at Families Joined by Love, pay us a visit at www.familiesjoinedbylove.com. Browse the books, look over the resource pages, and chime in on the forums. As far as our family goes, we believe that more equals merrier, so if you’re interested, come introduce yourself on our discussion boards–and join our fight for a truly egalitarian society.
I look forward to getting to know you all!
