Beth Teper
 |
This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (March 2011) |
 |
This article is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (March 2011) |
Beth Teper was the executive director of COLAGE, the "only national, youth-driven network of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer parents".[1][2] She is a leading and outspoken advocate for the rights of LGBT families and for children with gay and lesbian parents everywhere and is considered an authority on LGBT parenting issues.[3][not in citation given][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Teper's community organizing began at age nine - helping on mailings and selling buttons for the SF chapter of National Organization for Women.[11] Teper was ten when her mother came out as a lesbian and twelve when her best friend and many other friends abandoned and harassed her after finding out about her mom.[12][13][14] It wasn't until Teper was 24 that she found a community of other young people with families like hers.[11]
A San Francisco native and Oakland resident, Teper attended public schools in San Francisco and graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. in Sociology, Latin American Studies and Women's Studies.[11] Before joining COLAGE she was a leader of outdoor adventures and activism: leading wilderness expeditions, teaching environmental ethics, and sharing the pleasure of food and nature with urban youth and families.[11] As part of this work she climbed Mt. Whitney and rafted the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon.[11] Teper has worked for women's health and reproductive rights, an end to US military action and occupation, LGBT liberation and environmental sustainability.[11] She has a background in popular education, social, economic and environmental justice, and youth empowerment which she brought to her work with COLAGE.[15]
She joined COLAGE in October 1993 and has been an active participant and leader in the LGBT family movement ever since.[11][16][17][18] Prior to being COLAGE's Executive Director, she served on the COLAGE Steering Committee and as chair of the COLAGE Board of Directors for almost seven years.[19] In 1994 she marched and spoke at the rally in New York City for the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.[20] In 2003 she became COLAGE's third executive director.[21] In 2005 she led COLAGE's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts to support LGBT families and groups.[22] In 2006 she presented and co-sponsored several workshops and caucuses focused on LGBT families at the 18th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change in Kansas City. In 2008 she coordinated the national group's participation in American Family Outing (AFO), an outreach effort to communities of faith sponsored by Soulforce, in collaboration with the National Black Justice Coalition, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and COLAGE.[23] The AFO is a "family-to-family visits with the parishioners and leaders of six of America’s most influential megachurches, including Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, and Rick Warren."[23] As of 2008 Teper overseas the administration of 65 chapters in 32 states and affiliates in Canada, Sweden, and England.National Black Justice Coalition.[10] In 2010 Teper and COLAGE along with The Progressive Project filed amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Proposition 8).[24] The brief focuses on "the harm that occurs to children of same-sex couples when marriage equality is banned".[24]
Beth resigned from COLAGE in December, 2011.
[edit] Resignation
Beth Teper resigned from COLAGE in late 2011. A letter from Beth appeared on the COLAGE web page announcing her departure from the organization at the end of 2011.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ The College blue book, Volume 5, 32nd edition, Macmillan Reference (2005), ISBN 0028659589, 9780028659589, page 127.
- ^ Seth Hemmelgarn, "Colage marks its 20th year", Issue: Vol. 40 / No. 32 / 12 August 2010, Bay Area Reporter.
- ^ Gay Marriage's Biggest Supporters: Children of Gay Parents Sarah Wildman
- ^ Noelle Howey, Generations of Pride: P-Town's Family Week -- and similar gatherings around the nation -- is becoming the most important event of the year for many gay parents and their children, pages 40-41, The Advocate, June 10, 2003.
- ^ Zak Szymanski, "'Beyond Marriage' statement sparks dialogue", 08/03/2006, Bay Area Reporter.
- ^ Melissa Hart, "Meet the ‘Queerspawn’", Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Cover story, November/December 2005.
- ^ Involved, Invisible, Ignored: A Report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Partnership with COLAGE and the Family Equality CouncilThe Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual andTransgender Parents and Their Childrenin Our Nation’s K–12 Schools. 2008, ISBN 1-934092-02-9.
- ^ "Family Building Through Assisted Reproduction", Gay Parent Magazine, March–April 2010 issue #69.
- ^ Our Families: Attributes of Bay Area Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Parents and Their Children, A Needs Assessment Report of the LGBT Family Collaborative, 2007, Collaborative partners include:COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere), Our Family Coalition (OFC), and the San FranciscoLesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center (The Center).
- ^ a b "Episode 34 – Beth Teper, Executive Director of Colage". Outspoken with John Selig. 20 May 2008. 43 minutes in.
- ^ a b c d e f g Staff biography at Colage
- ^ Chloé Harris, "The Village People", The Advocate, July 15th, 2008.
- ^ Heather Cassell, "School Resources", 08/30/2007, Bay Area Reporter.
- ^ Susan Dominus, "Growing Up With Mom and Mom", The New York Times, October 24, 2004 [1]
- ^ Maggie Jackson, "Same-sex couples face unique adoption hurdles", Boston Globe, March 26, 2006.
- ^ Zak Szymanski, "Dufty enters new arena – parenthood", 04/06/2006, Bay Area Reporter.
- ^ Beth Teper, "Letter from the Director", Vol. 15 #1, 2003, Just For Us, Colage magazine.
- ^ "Recipe for a successful school year? Listen to your kids.", Sep 6, 2007, Bay Windows.
- ^ "Colage Notes: Staff Updates", Vol. 14 #2 (Fall/Winter), 2002, Just For Us, Colage magazine.
- ^ Mike Beebe, "A Toast To Colage", Vol. 16 #3, 2004, Just For Us, Colage magazine.
- ^ Dan Cherubin, Jesse Carr & Meredith Fenton, "Dateline Dan", Vol. 16 #3, 2004, Just For Us, Colage magazine.
- ^ Jesse Carr & Meredith Fenton, "Responding To Hurricane Katrina", Vol. 17 #3, 2005, Just For Us, Colage magazine.
- ^ a b Will Billings, Kids’ cartoon character becomes member of gay rights group: Title animated character in 'Buddy G, My Two Moms and Me' has become a member of COLAGE, QNotes,May 3, 2008.
- ^ a b TPP and COLAGE Amicus Brief for Perry v Schwarzenegger, Case3:09-cv-02292-VRW Document548 Filed February 03 2010, 32 pages, The Progressive Project.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
