Family Equality Council

May 20, 2010

In 1979 a group of gay fathers got together and formed the group that would eventually become Family Equality Council. Knowing that there were other gay dads out there somewhere, they were committed to finding one another and forming a network of support.

How We Expanded:

Originally called the Gay Fathers Coalition, in 1986 this fathers’ group expanded to include lesbian moms, prompting a name change to the Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International (GLPCI), a volunteer grassroots chapter-based organization whose primary purpose was to connect with and support local gay and lesbian parenting groups, while advancing the cause of the lesbian and gay parenting community.

Children of LGBTQ parents have unique needs and learn, grow and find support with one another. In 1990, a group of youth convened and initiated a new program of GLPCI, called Just For Us. By the mid 1990’s that group had established a steering committee and separate program status, and shortly thereafter the group changed its name to Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE). In 1999, the GLPCI Board of Directors endorsed the wishes of COLAGE to become an independent organization, operating under its own tax-exempt status. COLAGE became an independent organization on January 1, 1999.

In 1998, recognizing our growing movement and the need to lead by being inclusive examples, GLPCI changed its name to the Family Pride Coalition in order to include bisexual and transgender parents. In 2007, in order to better capture the full breadth and scope of our work and our collective vision of a world that treats all loving families equally, we thought it was important to change our name to Family Equality Council. Our new name and expanded vision reinforce our commitment to working across communities and issues and to joining forces with other progressive advocacy groups to create meaningful change for all loving families.