Welcome to Out & Equal’s first Families/Caregivers of LGBTQ+ Children Community Engagement Group Roundtable of 2025.

CEGs offer year-round opportunities for intersectional identity groups to build shared awareness around common challenges and strategies and inspire each other through individual stories. The Families/Caregivers CEG will be hosted by John (he/him) and Jen (she/her) Grosshandler, from GenderCool and Jamie Henkel (she/her) from PFLAG National.

When LGBTQ+ youth grow up in households that love, support, and affirm who they are, it has lifesaving and changing impacts. And while this is clear, parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ youth face a number of challenges when it comes to understanding, accepting, supporting, and celebrating the young people in their lives. These challenges often center on feeling undereducated on the complexities of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

It’s why safe spaces, like Out & Equal’s Families/Caregivers of LGBTQ+ Children CEG, where individuals of like-identities can connect, share stories, and open up about their unique challenges and experiences are critically important. Through these vital support networks, which are centered on community and open dialogue, individuals can find understanding and feel seen. They can learn, grow, and feel supported as they navigate their journey and the evolving relationship with their LGBTQ+ child/children.

This CEG is available for O&E partner contacts and companies and community and non-profit organizations. You must self-ID with the group