Family Equality’s Stacey Stevenson on Supporting the LGBTQIA+ Community

Last week I went to dinner at my dear friends Brian and Jake’s house in celebration of Family Equality. I was so moved by the speeches from the team and the non-profit’s mission of fighting for LGBTQIA+ families' rights. Below, team OP spoke with the organization’s CEO Stacey Stevenson about their goals for the future and how all of us can be better allies to the community. OP

“Founded in 1979 at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, the organization that grew into Family Equality is driven by the same fundamental inequality that drives our work today,” says CEO Stacey Stevenson. “That caring, loving parents are being denied equal opportunity to form and sustain families because of their sexual orientation and / or gender identity.” Stevenson and her team have ramped up efforts to combat recent legislation making things more difficult for the community to build, grow, or start their family.

“There's a spectrum of discrimination that blocks LGBTQ+ people from forming families, from state laws to personal discrimination in the medical field or the child welfare system,” says Stevenson. “One of my first two areas of focus will be to broaden our reach to more families, particularly families of color, and advance our policy work.” Those policies include the John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act and The Equality Act which prohibit discriminating against gender identity and sexual orientation to receive federal benefits and employment opportunities. “Existing LGBTQ+ families are often discriminated against in their communities, the school system, etc.,” says Stevenson. “We are committed to keeping fighting and advocating until all LGBTQ+ families live in a country where they are safe, valued, and seen.”

But Family Equality’s work goes beyond the physical. When the pandemic first hit, the non-profit ramped up their digital efforts with the creation of The Neighborhood, a hub offering everything from cultural activities to peer counseling and support spaces. “Although the world is opening back up, the Neighborhood will continue to grow,” explains Stevenson. “We recently added a Digital Program Manager to our team [who] will use his talents and the vision of Family Equality to continue to produce robust programming.”

However, for Stevenson, the work goes beyond Family Equality and can be made real through the efforts of everyone as allies. “Speak up and speak your truth even when it’s not popular,” says Stevenson. “Go to our website , follow us on social, and take the Every Child Deserves a Family Act Pledge, and say no to adoption discrimination.” And while Stevenson and Family Equality’s work is a work in progress, they’re getting closer to achieving their goal of, “reaching and serving a wider range of families, so that all LGBTQ+ families—regardless of race, geography, or socioeconomic status—feel supported by our work.” 

For more information, please visit familyequality.org.