"Every day in my work, I see people who have not been loved by their parents, not been cared for. My father and Bob have been together 25 years now. They have shown me the meaning of integrity and family."
— Howard County Resident Kate Oliver, LCSW

Brooklandville — As central figures in the same-sex marriage debate in Maryland, children of two-mom and two-dad families will respond to questions at a community forum sponsored by Equality Maryland on Monday, February 27, 2006 at Park School in Baltimore County. Adults who were raised by same-sex couples and children currently living in same-sex households will make up the seven-person panel. After a short program, panelists will respond to questions from the audience. Two facilitators will moderate the forum.

"We do all the same kinds of things as my friends who have a mom and a dad," said Aaron Henry-Lambert, a fourth grader in Baltimore County who will be part of the panel. "My parents work together the same. It just seems normal to me"

The marriage debate has heightened dialogue about families headed by same-sex couples. All too often, however, the children of these couples become phantom voices, unheard and unseen. The 2000 Census estimated that more than 3,200 children in Maryland were being raised by same-sex parents, but the Human Rights Campaign asserts that same-sex households were undercounted in the last census by as much as 62 percent. Nationally, more and more gays and lesbians are raising children. Yet, there is much misinformation about how these children are faring.

"Recently, a Baltimore Circuit Court ruled it unconstitutional to deny the protections of marriage to same-sex couples in Maryland," said Dan Furmansky, Equality Maryland’s executive director. "Now, legislators in the state are attacking the rights of lesbian and gay citizens – and their children – through so-called 'Defense of Marriage' amendments to state constitutions. Children of same-sex couples are caught in the middle of these events. It's time to hear their points of view."

Co-sponsors for the Equality Maryland event include Baltimore Area Families with Pride, Columbia/Howard County PFLAG, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), Family Pride Coalition, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB), Gay and Lesbian Student Education Network (GLSEN) Maryland, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Mountain Meadow, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Organization of Women - Maryland Chapter, PFLAG Baltimore.

The Park School is located at 2425 Old Court Road, Brooklandville MD | 410-339-7070

For directions: www.parkschool.net/index.cfm