on our families, especially this year.
As we work today to get out the vote and to defeat anti-equality
measures around the country, we want you to know that we understand
the very personal conversations you will have with your families in
the days to come. We hope these personal conversations are
celebratory, but we know they might also include some letdowns to
discuss.
Whatever the case may be, we’ve put our heads together and created
a publication, “Talking to
Your Children About Election ‘08”, to help your family
discuss the results of Election ’08.
Click below to read more from Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director
of Family Equality Council. And stay tuned for our Front Seat
Election ’08 Coverage later this evening!
Here’s to an America on November 5th that is more full of
love, justice, family and equality!
On the release of “Talking to Your Children About Election
’08”:
Whether we like it or not, elections, candidates and ballot
measures have a particularly profound impact on our families, and
not just in terms of the laws and protections at stake. Our
children are not immune from campaigns. They see the ads and the
yard signs. They hear people talking about candidates and issues.
But our children, especially our younger children, don’t always
have the tools they need to understand the impact of elections on
their families. I recently met a young girl who thought that a ban
on gays and lesbians adopting meant that someone was going to take
her back from her adopted parents. She was visibly frightened and
unnecessarily so because adoption bans should not dissolve existing
adoptions. It’s our job as parents to be honest with our children
about the world we live in, while taking care to comfort and
reassure them. That’s why we’ve put together this resource,
“Talking to Your Children About Election ‘08”, to help you
engage in these important conversations now that the results are
in. The issues and answers we give below are by no means exhaustive
of the topics your family might cover, but we hope you find them
useful as you continue to do what you always do—work to ensure
the best possible world for your children to grow up in.
–Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director