See upcoming family events at Center Calendar: Family

Though LGBT people have always had children in the context of traditional heterosexual relationships, there has, over the past generation, been an explosion of child rearing by LGBT individuals who choose to raise children in openly "nontraditional" families.

Center Families is the Center's family program for LGBT parents and their children, for those considering parenthood, and for all LGBT people in the context of their families - of origin or of affinity. Founded in 1989, Center Families gives children ongoing opportunities to befriend others from similar families, while their parents have a chance to meet, socialize and build their own support network. Center Families, which advocates at state and local levels for the rights of alternative families, has become a national and regional model for LGBT family organizing. In its almost 20-year history, many thousands of families in the tri-state area have utilized Center Families program offerings.

Center Families programs include support groups for LGBT parents and prospective parents; trainings for teachers and school administrators; advocacy and activist efforts; support around alternative insemination, adoption, surrogacy and nontraditional cooperative parenting arrangements; forums on issues such as custody when LGBT parents separate or financial planning for alternative families; and recreational programs for children 8 and under (Halloween Parties, Holiday Parties, Play Days, etc.).


NOTE: Center Families does not provide programming for children 9 and older. For children over 9, contact COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, www.colage.org – national office), or the NYC chapter of COLAGE c/o Danielle Silber at nyc@colage.org.

next steps CONTACT: For more about Center Families, call 212.620.7310 or email centerfamilies@gaycenter.org. VISIT our new Ask the Experts forum to ask your own questions about LGBTQ family and parenting issues!