Local LGBT group Philadelphia Family Pride is staging a daylong conference next month that will offer advice, resources and a sense of community to both current and prospective same-sex parents.
The group’s Family Matters Conference will run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research in Bryn Mawr.
The event is modeled after the national conference held each year in Provincetown, Mass., by the Family Equality Council, but PFP is putting its own local spin on it.
Wendy Forbes, PFP membership committee chair, said the organization has recently been working to develop its educational outreach component.
“A few years ago we had an event in which we were talking to children about school, and we invited a bunch of schools to participate and that grew our education department, so we’ve started looking at [PFP] as a vehicle not just for social opportunities, but also for education,” she said.
PFP members have taught seminars at the local Trans-Health Conference and the annual FEC convention, and the organization began brainstorming for its first comprehensive family workshop about six months ago.
The daylong event will feature about 20 sessions led by social workers, psychologists, attorneys and PFP members themselves.
Some of the workshops are geared toward prospective parents, such as “Babymaking in the 21st Century” and “Adoption Options,” while others are tailored for parents at all stages of child-rearing, including “Understanding the Teen Brain,” “Tips and Tools for Talking about Sexuality in your Family” and “Parenting your Active (and/or Quirky) Child.”
In addition to providing a forum to discuss parenting practices, some of the sessions also look at the issue within a specific LGBT context, such as workshops on helping an adopted child look for his or her half-siblings and ways to safeguard the rights of LGBT families.
Area churches and LGBT organizations will also be on hand at informational tables.
Forbes said PFP organizers worked to ensure issues of diversity within the LGBT community were also addressed in the sessions, with offerings on raising multiracial kids and a workshop for transgender parents, as well as the screening of the film “Transparent.”
“I joined the planning committee of the Trans-Health Conference about two years ago, and I saw a really big need in our community for resources for transgender parents,” Forbes said. “This is a huge, growing parent population so we really wanted to reach out to them.”
Forbes noted that the event will allow LGBT prospective and current parents to learn both with and from one another.
“It’s going to be a nice, eclectic mix of information for parents as well as networking opportunities and the chance to meet other families,” she said. “There are obviously some tools online, but a lot of time having that human touch and being able to meet other parents who’ve been through what you may be going through as a prospective parent, in terms of adoption or surrogacy, is hugely important.”
Mountain Meadow will provide free childcare during the event, and kids and parents will come together after the sessions from 4-6 p.m. for a Halloween-themed family dance.
Early registration fees range from $5-$15. Guests must register by Oct. 10 to take advantage of the free childcare. Lunch is $5 with pre-registration.
The first 20 registrants will receive a PFP T-shirt, and everyone who registers before Sept. 30 will be entered in a raffle for an array of prizes.
For more information or to register, visit www.phillyfamilypride.org.