Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Equality Council, believes that there is not one homogeneous definition to describe a family. “If you all closed your eyes and had to imagine what a family looks like, what would you draw or write? A mom, a dad and three kids in the suburbs with a dog and a white picket fence. That is the picture that we all have of that one family,” said Chrisler during her presentation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) families on Monday night. Chrisler discussed the demographics of LGBT families in the United States and the importance of youth activism in gay rights advocacy. According to Chrisler, few contemporary American households actually look like the one she first described. Less than 50 percent of children live in a household with both of their biological parents. Twenty-five percent of American children live in a household with a single parent. There are 2.5 million grandparents raising their grandchildren. LGBT families raise two million children nationwide. However, Chrisler said that the nation has not progressed from this simplistic view of family that dates back to the 1950s. During her presentation, Chrisler also discussed the significance of President Barack Obama’s newest pro-marriage equality stance, which he officially announced last week. “It goes to show how fast things move and how far we’ve actually come. To have the actual sitting president come out and say, on national television, that marriage equality is something he believes in and should actually be available to all people, is extraordinary,” said Chrisler. “[Obama] is entering us into a whole new generation, a whole new era of human equality,” said Grace Tully ’15, who attended Chrisler’s presentation. “We’ve done our very best to end racism in America. We’ve done our very best to end sexism in America. But gays are very much still crushed, and this is a huge step forward.” Chrisler said that most LGBT families are concentrated in the South and Midwest, but in these regions there is little state legislation protecting LGBT rights. She attributed this demographic trend to the fact that LGBT families are more common among African American and Hispanic communities, which have traditionally existed in higher concentrations in the South. “Imagine if you’re a kid, and you have two dads or two moms and you live in the state of Tennessee, which is a high percentage LGBT state. And then, every year, pretty vocally, you have a state senator who introduces a bill that says that not only can your parents not get married, but there are no protections around adoption, no protections around bullying in state schools and now, there’s going to be legislation that you can’t say ‘gay’ in school,” said Chrisler, citing the recent HB2051 bill passed in Tennessee and Mississippi, which prohibits the discussion of sexual orientation in public schools, except in the context of scientific instruction. Chrisler urged students to consider the practical implications of legalizing gay marriage, taking a nonpartisan approach to the issue. She pointed out that there are 107,000 children who live in foster care in the United States and only 20,000 certified foster parents, but more than two million gay and lesbian families who have said that they would be willing to adopt a foster child. “It you look at it from a perspective of what makes families strong and healthy, then there is no discussion in policymaking,” said Chrisler. “I’d never really thought about actually numbers of children in foster care when thinking about the right of gay couples to adopt,” said Nalani Oines ’12. “[Chrisler’s presentation] made me want to do things, but I’m not exactly sure what. I’m sure I could write a letter to my senator.” According to Chrisler, public opinion on gay marriage is evenly divided in the United States. She said that a major problem the pro-marriage equality movement faces, however, is a lack of funding for advocacy organizations. Anti-gay marriage groups such as the Family Research Council and “Focus on the Family” have 10 times the amount of funding, dollar-for-dollar, compared to the Family Equality Council, according to Chrisler. Chrisler remained optimistic though, encouraging students to participate in activism work. “You tend to have a lot of energy, you tend to be really passionate about the things you care deeply about and you actually show up and do work that needs to be done in order to change the way society functions,” said Chrisler. Oscar Chim ’13 said, “[Chrisler] was so optimistic about us [students] making a difference. No matter how many social constraints there are in an environment, if there’s a will, there’s always a way. It’s just a matter of time and speed and how you carry out these reforms.” Andover’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) sponsored Chrisler’s visit. Malina Simard-Halm ’14, Head of Programming for GSA, suggested inviting Chrisler to campus. One of Simard-Halm’s fathers worked closely with Chrisler during his time on the Family Equality Council. Simard-Halm said, “Something that gets overlooked… are children of LGBT parents. I’m one of them. I really wanted to raise awareness through this meeting and bring attention to not only issues of LGBT families like adoption and marriage but also gay rights.”
