“We Will No Longer Be ‘The Kids’ of the Movement” Says New COLAGE ED

COLAGE, the national organization for people with one or more LGBTQ parents, has announced Dr. Paul-David Perry as its new executive director. Perry, in a post on the organization’s new blog, says that COLAGErs can play a central role in both the LGBTQ and other social justice movements.

Perry comes to COLAGE after a multifaceted career in education as a teacher, school leader, and school designer, and most recently as Bay Area executive director of The Reset Foundation, a nonprofit that runs residential education campuses for transition-age youth (18-24) as an alternative to incarceration. He was transracially adopted by his fathers Ken and Paul, and grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

In a post for the organization’s new blog for adult COLAGErs, he insists on the central role of COLAGErs in the movement for LGBTQ families, saying, “We will no longer be ‘the kids’ of the movement. We will be central players because our voices are vital for pushing the movement forward.” (Side note: I’m glad he’s emphasizing this. I’ve long tried to stress the fact that we LGBTQ families go back a ways—which means that many of our children (and grandchildren) are already grown.)

He notes the efforts at both the state and federal levels to “chip away at our hard-won gains” for LGBTQ families, and stresses that “COLAGErs across the country are uniquely positioned to lead the conversations we need to be having as a country.”

He attributes this in large part to their ability to think—and live—intersectionally, observing, “When you get them into COLAGEr-only space, they don’t dwell on having LGBTQ parents/caregivers, they focus on other intersectional identities and how to support each other across those identities.” He understands, though, that empowering COLAGErs and harnessing their power in turn will take work, and writes of his desire to better support local COLAGE communities and actions.

I hope you’ll go read his full post—and if you’re not familiar with COLAGE, go check out their website and all of the resources they have for children and adults with LGBTQ parents (including their Kidsafe blog for youth). As an LGBTQ parent myself, I’ve found it invaluable to read through their materials and try to see things from a COLAGEr’s perspective. —and as my son gets older, I’m glad he has COLAGE as a resource himself.

A big Mombian welcome to Paul! I look forward to watching COLAGE flourish further under his guidance.