The Rainbow Families Resource Directory  has been updated!   A benefit for Rainbow Families members, this is a vetted directory of LGBTQ+ affirming businesses & service providers.   The directory is updated regularly as new listings are approved.   More info here

We're delighted to announce the details for our 18th Rainbow Families Conference  -  May 22 & 23, 2021.    As was the case with our 2020 Conference, this will be an entirely virtual event. While we will surely miss the chance to be together in person, last year's conference showed us the power of digital connection, and it was one of our best-attended conferences ever!  This year will feature a truly virtual environment and added opportunities to make connections with one another.  More info is on our homepage under '2021 Conference'.  Registration opens soon!

With our new website seems a good time for a reminder - update your profile.  Members, for example,  should decide what information (if any) you want shared with other members in our Directory.   For members with children, listing their name and birthday ensures they'll receive a birthday card each year (and verify we have your current address!).   Rest assured, Rainbow Families will never sell or share member data.

Let's DO this!    We are ALL going to need some post-pandemic family fun with our community.   Dates for our 2022 getaway weekend are now set:  January 7-9  -  A perfect way to extend your holiday, and ring in the new year, with a great rate negotiated for Rainbow Families.  Click for more info

Rainbow Families' mission states:  We envision, and strive for, a nation where all LGBTQ+ families can legally, openly and safely live in full equality.

We are grateful for the swift action taken by President Biden, reversing previous discriminatory executive orders.  Let's all hope the pendulum will quickly turn, giving all LGBTQ+ families the rights we deserve.

To our families & friends in Washington DC and across the nation, please be safe over the next several days.  We can do this; everything we're enduring right now is taking us on that path to a more diverse, inclusive  and equitable future.   Take good care of one another. 
In pride, Darren Paul-Vance, Executive Director

Welcome to the all-new Rainbow Families homepage.    For some time, the look (and user experience) of our site needed improvement.  We hope you enjoy the end result, and find it easier to navigate.   Soon, you'll see HELP buttons with tips on how to manage your membership, view the member and provider directories, and more. 

In December, Rainbow Families embarked on a program to support and lift up small businesses in the community - many of whom are struggling because of the pandemic.   Our on-line Holiday Bazaar was new territory for sure - but enjoyed wonderful success, community engagement, and introduced thousands of new customers to these participating businesses.  Additionally, the business owners then donated a percentage of the Bazaar sales back to Rainbow Families.    Thank you to the businesses who joined, and to the people who supported them.

Friends, families, chosen-families, parents & children,

What a year this has been, and many people understandably await a "return to normal".    But as of this writing over 300,000 families will never have a return to normal.  Plus, our democracy has been tested in ways thought unimaginable.  Social and racial injustice issues. The economy.  Holiday stress.  Home schooling.  And more.  These conditions have taken a tremendous toll on us all.

However.

With the innumerable challenges we have endured in 2020, we have also witnessed a rising up - a spirit of togetherness, support and kindness in our beautiful Rainbow Families and the community at large.  Plus, the hope many of us have in our new leadership.

In the coming new year, let's hold onto that hope, that kindness, and seek to create the change we need for this generation, and for our children's.

Be safe this holiday season, give yourselves a break, be kind.  We'll get through this.

Darren Paul-Vance
Executive Director, Rainbow Families

Rainbow Families has developed several new programs which will begin Q1 2021.   We're excited to offer discussions on mental health in this extended time of Covid, a session for parents with kids considering college, and numerous support groups.  Visit our calendar as we continue to add programs and services for our community.  And we extend our deepest gratitude to the donors and volunteers, who will bring these to fruition.