upcoming workshops

*Workshops are FREE. Please make a reservation by emailing us at ihicenter@gmail.com or calling 212 243-2830

Trans/Parents and Our Children

Led by Elijah C. Nealy, M.Div., L.C.S.W.
Tuesday, March 12th at 6:30pm

If you are a transgender or a gender-queer parent, or are hoping to become a parent, then this workshop is for you!  Led by a transgender father who is a licensed clinical social worker, the workshop will explore some of the unique joys and challenges our families face.

Interracial LGBTQ Families: The Challenges Ahead

Dionne Scott and Tara Lombardo, MHC-LP
Wednesday, February 27th at 6:30pm

In interracial families, LGBTQ parents have unique concerns. In addition to facing hurdles associated with being a Q family, these parents encounter further challenges when there are differences in their and their children’s racial background. This workshop will explore the internal life of parents and children who experience racial difference in their home environment and offer ways of understanding and addressing their unique emotions and needs.

about family Q

ihi proudly offers family Q, a ground-breaking support program of free workshops and counseling for LGBTQ parents and prospective parents. While LGBTQ persons now more freely contemplate marriage and family life, they still face more difficult challenges than their straight counterparts. The family Q workshops alert the participants to the emotional issues they and their children will face and gives them the insights and tools needed for productive family-building.

family Q grows out of the earlier and ongoing efforts of such organizations as the LGBT Center's Center Kids, COLAGE, and the Family Equality Council. ihi hopes that this unique program will fulfill unmet needs of LGBTQ folks in the parenting realm by providing a safe, congenial ground to explore difficult emotional issues. The workshops are led by esteemed experts in the field, most of whom combine their expertise with their own practical experience of being parents themselves.

ihi is pleased that this program is available free of cost to the community through the generous funding of the New York State Department of Health.

family therapy

family Q also provides follow-up counseling for workshop participants who would like more support in working through some of the emotional complexities that LGBTQ parents must deal with.  

family Q Workshops began in October 2008. They are scheduled from October to May and will continue annually until 2014.   

Click here to see past Family Q workshop descriptions >