COLAGE on US with Dr Crystallee Crain

Founded in 1990 under the name “Just For Us,” COLAGE (originally Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) began with a group of six young people with lesbian and gay parents. The experience at their first meeting was revolutionary, and they wanted to share similar experiences with other COLAGErs. In 1996, the organization explicitly added work with children of bisexual and transgender parents to its mission, and queerspawn, a term of self-identification lovingly adopted by some members of our community, became widely used.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, COLAGE leadership became increasingly aware of the needs of a new generation of COLAGErs. These were children of the “gayby boom,” whose parents had chosen to form families after coming out – often through adoption or reproductive technology – creating new forms of families with intention. As so many of these youth were people of color, COLAGE adopted a new strategic plan that specifically included an anti-racist, social justice platform.

Amidst intensifying debates on marriage equality, LGBTQ+ parents – and their children – were increasingly thrust into the public eye, dramatically increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ families. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, COLAGE expanded programming to meet the needs of these increasingly visible families as COLAGErs supported marriage equality fights state-by-state and in the Supreme Court.

Today, COLAGE stands as the only national organization dedicated to the empowerment of youth in LGBTQ+ families, and celebrates thirty years of this work.

Today's Guest

Angel Martin (they/them) is the National Program Director at COLAGE. They are a second generation queerspawn with a lesbian mom. Angel started COLAGE programming at the age of 7 and has been an active member of the COLAGE community ever since. When they were in high school, they participated in the Youth Leadership Track as a Facilitator in Training during Family Week. They became a facilitator and, eventually, a coordinator for the Waffles age group.

In 2019, Angel was a Program Intern for Family Week. Angel played an instrumental role in establishing COLAGE’s Transformative Justice Committee in 2020. Angel is excited to work towards a world where all queerspawn have community. Previously, Angel lived in Los Angeles where they did social work at a homeless services agency. They now live in Manhattan with their partner and is a singer-songwriter in their free time.

Click here to learn how to Join COLAGE: https://colage.org/join-us/

COLAGE Upcoming Events: https://colage.org/?post_type=tribe_events

Sound:

ES Do You Believe - Rambutan

ES Life's Good - Hank Lotion

ES Koffee in the Forest - HATAMITSUNAMI