Somos Familia fills the gap in resources for LGBTQ+ Latinxs and their families by building community and creating our own media to open the doors of acceptance and understanding. Our mission is build leadership in our Latinx families and communities to create a culture where people of diverse genders and sexual orientations can thrive. We work toward this by engaging the Latinx families in accepting, celebrating and advocating for our LGBTQ+ loved ones and shifting the cultural stigma of LGBTQ+ identities.
We deliver a culturally-competent and family-centered approach to transform the culture of rejection that strongly affects the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ Latinxs. Over the last 15 years, we have listened to the needs of the Latinx community and drawn from the personal experiences of our founders – two friends from the East Bay whose children came out as LGBTQ+ – to develop programs that transform cultures of bias within our families and community. Somos Familia provides one-on-one, group and community support to families, youth, and transmasculine Latinxs, facilitate educational workshops for families and service providers, and nurture the leadership of LGBTQ+ Latinxs and their family members.
We currently support approximately 200 Latinx families with LGBTQ+ loved ones to heal and develop an accepting family culture through 1-on-1 check-ins and our twice monthly Familias y Diversidad support group for families with LGBTQ+ loved ones. As families begin to feel comfortable, we also provide training and opportunities for them to share their experiences with other families and service providers to continue to spread the culture of support. We also host Spanish-language groups by and for LGBTQ+ youth and transmasculine-identified Latinxs where a variety of topics are discussed, including coming out, transitioning, and mental and physical health. These groups are open to people all around the world as they take place primarily via Zoom. We are beginning to transition some of them back to in-person within the Bay Area and plan to maintain our virtual presence globally.
We also work with partner organizations to train their staff and clients to better understand LGBTQ+ populations and have the tools to create safe and inviting spaces for LGBTQ+ Latinxs and their families, including En Esos Tiempos, a podcast in Spanish hosted by a trans man and his parents where they discuss family acceptance, coming out, anti-trans legislation, pronouns and more and ¿Y Ahora Que?, a self-guided learning site for Spanish-speaking families with LGBTQ+ loved ones. Your support will help us continue to build leadership, tools and support programming to meet community needs and increase understanding and advocacy of LGBTQ+ Latinxs.
