GIVE A DAMN CAMPAIGN RELEASES LATEST VIDEO FOCUSING ON GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PARENTS

VIDEO FEATURES MOMS CYNTHIA NIXON, SHARON OSBOURNE AND KAROLINA KURKOVA

The Give a Damn Campaign today releases its latest video in its monthly series to highlight the discrimination that the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community continues to face. This month, Cynthia Nixon, Sharon Osbourne and Karolína Kurková talk about why they give a damn about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender parents and their kids. These three moms are joined by a father and a grandmother to call attention to the discrimination that families headed by gay parents face each and every day in this country.



Many mainstream child health and social service organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, Child Welfare League of America and National Association of Social Workers, have gone on record to support adoption by qualified lesbian and gay parents. Unfortunately, many road blocks remain in place, including 3 states that have blanket bans prohibiting any lesbian or gay couple from adopting. In many states, the parenting law for gay and  transgender people is still unclear.

In addition, there are 6 million to 14 million lesbian and gay parents in this country that cannot do all they would like to ensure the emotional and financial security of their children. In part, because current federal and state regulations extend thousands of protections to married couples and their families, but not necessarily to same-sex couples and their families.  Also, many companies do not provide the same health insurance benefits for their gay employees, those employees’ health insurance won’t cover their domestic partners or the children of their domestic partners who are not adopted by the employee.

It is time for things to change. The Give a Damn Campaign urges everyone to share this video - especially with the straight people in their lives - to educate them about the need to get involved in helping protect families headed by gay and lesbian parents.