Chicago’s Gay & Lesbian Parents Group, which was active from the mid-1970s through the 1990s will hold a reunion on Sunday, July 30 at 4 p.m. at Sidetrack, 3449 N. Halsted.
A founding member who now resides in Fort Lauderdale stated; “Although many of our members have remained close, many have drifted away and this is an opportunity to see old friends and reconnect. We were raising children when it was unusual for the GLBT community to do so and we became a support system for each other.”
The Gay Parents Group was founded in 1976 when a divorced lesbian mother placed an ad in GayLife newspaper announcing the formation of a support group for gay men and lesbians with children. Within a year the group had grown to nearly four dozen members and became too large to meet in people’s homes on a regular basis. The group began meeting at Gay Horizons, a social service agency, and changed its name to the Gay & Lesbian Parents Group. Members would meet weekly and featured speakers, social events as well as serving as a support group. Family outings allowed the children of the gay and lesbian parents to develop friendships (some of which lasted well into adulthood) with others in the same situation.
The meeting at Sidetrack will be a casual get-together, is free (cash bar), and open to all who belonged to the organization. For more information go to facebook.com/ChicagoGLParentsGroup.