The Chosen Family Project™ has a mission! – To advocate, protect, and advance the health, safety and well being of LGBTQ+ families throughout the United States by challenging all forms of hate directed at them and securing a world in which those families may thrive.
To meet this mission, the Palm Springs based charitable organization is embarking on a fundraising campaign to publish a large-format book that will memorialize the history of LGBTQ+ families with stories and photographs that illustrate how these “chosen families” found one another. Founding Partner Steve Rossetti says, “No one can aspire to a life that’s not visible to them. Our efforts will showcase the diverse ways of living in the warmth of family.”
All funds raised via donations and book revenues will flow to organizations that provide essential services for disenfranchised families within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as grants to support housing, healthcare, food, and education for these families.
Often because of conflicts within their biological families and/or communities, LGBTQ+ people have historically relied on the support of their “Chosen Families” – families that are not defined by gender, ethnicity, sexuality, parental status, or the partners they love, but the people they’ve chosen to walk with through life’s journey. Unfortunately, these Chosen Families are under attack in the United States.
Since 2022 there have been 815 bills introduced that stigmatize and roll back the rights of LGBTQ+ families according to the Human Rights Campaign – 565 in 2023 alone.
Today in the U.S.:
40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ+.
27% of LGBTQ+ adults experience food insecurity.
20% of LGBTQ+ youth have attempted suicide.
Additionally, NIH research shows that LGBTQ+ people are dying earlier and getting sicker than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts due to stigma, structural barriers to care, and the damage caused by the stress of belonging to a marginalized group.
“We must document the history of the LGBTQ+ community, while some groups are trying to rewrite and erase our history,” says founding partner Bruce Purdy. “In response to the legislative and personal attacks, we are working to build families, make them stronger and more resilient, while others are trying to tear them apart. As a gay man, I thought my community had been making good progress. I never imagined that I would be fundraising for this critical cause in 2023!”
To contribute a story, The Chosen Family Project™ urges interested writers to submit their work to www.TheChosenFamilyProject.org/storysubmissions . Founding partner Steven Drew Auerbach notes, “you do not need to be a writer to have a compelling story, just the passion to tell it.” Consequently, the organization allows individuals to tell their stories – anonymously or not – in writing, recordings, or pre-arranged interviews.
The Chosen Family Project™ kicks off their 2023/2024 “Freedom to Love Campaign” at a gala exhibition honoring its charitable foundation at Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert, CA on November 9, 2023. The event, which is by invitation, will contribute a portion of the proceeds from art sales to the foundation. To donate and learn more, go to www.TheChosenFamilyProject.org. All donations are fully tax deductible.