FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cathy Renna
Cell 917-757-6123
"Real Families, Real Facts: Research Symposium on LGBT-headed Families"
Family Research and Clinical Experts Will Serve as Keynote Speakers
March 28, 2006 – WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Pride today announced that it will co-sponsor the first-ever academic symposium focused on the latest and most accurate research about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parents and their children.
The symposium, co-sponsored with the University of Pennsylvania's LGBT Center, will take place in Philadelphia May 22-23, 2006. The gathering will bring together a diverse array of esteemed researchers and scholars from the United States and abroad to present their findings and discuss the state of research on LGBT-headed families. The conference is being organized with the guidance of an academic advisory committee consisting of leading researchers in the areas of psychology, economics, education and pediatric medicine.
“This symposium provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion about the realities of our lives and the lives of our children,” said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Pride, the only national nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to securing equality for LGBT parents and their families. “We believe the symposium will offer credible research to better educate and inform the public and counteract the misinformation perpetuated about LGBT families.”
"The University of Pennsylvania is delighted to be co-sponsoring this exciting, unprecedented opportunity to showcase informative and beneficial research about a vital contemporary subject,” said Bob Schoenberg, director of the Penn LGBT Center.
Academics -- from fields including sociology, social work, law, education, psychology, economics and education -- will present their work on a variety of topics, including the emotional and social adjustment of children raised by LGBT parents, demographic information on LGBT families, the marriage and child-rearing aspirations of LGB youth, and LGBT family structures and support networks.
In addition, a panel discussion will address the use of social science research in advocacy and the law, and will include family advocates Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute; Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights; and Jennifer Chrisler.
The symposium will feature keynote addresses from two internationally recognized academics, Dr. Susan Golombok and Dr. Nanette Gartrell, who bring professional expertise and perspective on more than 30 years of research on LGBT-headed families.
Golombok is a psychology professor and also serves as director of the Centre for Family Research at the Univeristy of Cambridge. She is the author of Growing up in a Lesbian Family and Parenting: What Really Counts? and is a much sought-after researcher and presenter on a broad range of issues affecting children and adults raised in lesbian and single-parent families.
Gartrell is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco and serves as part of the medical staff at Pacific Presbyterian/California Pacific Medical Center. Gartrell served for three years on the Joint Committee on the Status of Women at Harvard Medical School, and for six years on the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Women, including terms as vice-chair and chair.
For more information about Family Pride or the academic symposium, call (202) 331-5015.
The Family Pride Coalition is the only national non-profit organization dedicated to securing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents and their families.