Okay... I just watched this video and was blown away. This is what parenting is all about. The short was produced by the Family Acceptance Project. The video is 15 minutes long so I hope you watch the entire thing. You won't regret it.
The Family Acceptance Project™ is the only community research, intervention, education and policy initiative that works to decrease major health and related risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth, such as suicide, substance abuse, HIV and homelessness – in the context of their families. We use a research-based, culturally grounded approach to help ethnically, socially and religiously diverse families decrease rejection and increase support for their LGBT children.
Well??? Do you just love the dad? What a great supporter and role model for other dads. I'm so pleased at how involved he wants to be in helping other fathers and their kids.
From the 'Overview' page:
Although there is an increasing amount of information about the risks and challenges facing LGB youth (with very little information about transgender youth), we know little about their strengths and resiliency, including the strengths of families in supporting their children's health and well-being. Even though the family is the primary support for children and youth, and family involvement helps reduce adolescent risk, there have been no previous studies of how families affect their LGBT children’s risk and resiliency. Prior to this study, little information was available to show how families respond to an adolescent's coming out and how family and caregiver reactions affect adolescent health, mental health and development for LGBT young people.
It looks like a great program that will be an excellent resource for families of LGBT youth. Currently its for Bay Area families (San Francisco, California area) and I hope their program goes national. Won't you help them tell the stories of diverse families with LGBT children?
These stories of transformation, hope and love that show how very diverse families integrate deeply held religious and personal values with love for their LGBT children — have not been told… until now.
Help them make a difference for LGBT children, youth and families.Updated by cooper888 at Sun Mar 13, 2011, 09:27:22 PM
Via Twitter I learned the following: "@cooper888 thanks 4 piece about FAP, but it is a national project, event though the direct family work is primarily SFBA for now"
So, great news that this program has national reach (as it should, yay).