Meet Our Partner—Family Equality

In celebration of PRIDE month and our new Love & Rainbows Woven Strap, we are excited to announce our partnership with Family Equality. We will be donating 10% of proceeds for each strap sold to help with their mission. Read on to hear more about their work and how they are making a difference for LGTBQIA+ families. 

Did you know at least 11.3 million American adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ+)—and many of them have or are considering expanding their families! Research shows that nearly 63% of LGBTQ+ millennials are considering expanding their families in the coming years. 

That’s where Family Equality comes in! Since 1979, Family Equality has been working to advance lived and legal equality for LGBTQ+ families across the country, driven by the belief that everyone deserves the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, live in communities that respect them, and access services free from discrimination. We work in four critical areas to usher in change for good: community-building, education, advocacy, and organizing. 

Family Equality connects LGBTQ+ families, youth from those families, and prospective parents across the country. In fact, Family Equality hosts the largest annual gathering of LGBTQ+ families in the world every year for Family Week in Provincetown. In 2019, there were over 600 LGBTQ+ families who gathered from around the world to participate in a week of daily activities and events for the entire family.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Family Equality also sought opportunities to connect LGBTQ+ families virtually by creating The Neighborhood: A Virtual Hub for LGBTQ+ Families. This space offers LGBTQ+ families and those who wish to form them opportunities to connect with one another, learn, grow, and have fun—from a Facebook group with almost 1,000 members to a robust calendar of peer support spaces.

We also work to educate community members, neighbors, and allies through important research, training, and resources. For instance, Family Equality’s Open Door Program offers family-building providers and HR professionals in-depth, interactive courses to equip them with the tools necessary to develop inclusive policies and practices.

(We also create a number of resources by and for LGBTQ+ families, including our Path to Parenthood webinars with LGBTQ+ fertility experts and our robust resource library!)

Finally, Family Equality is advocating for lived and legal equality and organizing LGBTQ+ families to speak out and take action. As it stands, there is no federal law prohibiting anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination—and 11 states allow adoption and foster care agencies to turn away LGBTQ+ parents. Family Equality’s policy team tracks legislation like this on a range of issues that directly affect both existing LGBTQ+ families and the ability of LGBTQ+ individuals to expand their families. We’re also always lifting up the stories of impassioned LGBTQ+ family advocates—like in our friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, where we shared real-life stories of discrimination.

An essential aspect of this policy work is leading the Every Child Deserves a Family Campaign. Through coordinating partner organizations, faith leaders, civil rights groups, and more, the Campaign seeks to promote the best interests of all children in the foster care and adoption system by increasing their access to loving, stable, forever homes and working to ensure safe and supportive care for LGBTQ+ children and youth seeking family formation.

From the steps of the Supreme Court to the beaches of Provincetown, Family Equality is here for you. Advancing both legal and lived equality is our mission and we won’t stop this work until all families are recognized, respected and protected. Learn more at familyequality.org.