Beth Teper
Encyclopedia
Beth Teper is the executive director of COLAGE, the "only national, youth-driven network of people with lesbian
, gay
, bisexual, transgender
, or queer
parents". She is a leading and outspoken advocate for the rights of LGBT
families and for children with gay
and lesbian
parents everywhere and is considered an authority on LGBT parenting
issues.
. Teper was ten when her mother came out as a lesbian
and twelve when her best friend and many other friends abandoned and harassed her after finding out about her mom. It wasn't until Teper was 24 that she found a community of other young people with families like hers.
A San Francisco native and Oakland resident, Teper attended public schools in San Francisco and graduated from Brandeis University
with a B.A. in Sociology
, Latin American Studies
and Women's Studies
. Before joining COLAGE she was a leader of outdoor adventures and activism: leading wilderness expeditions, teaching environmental ethics, and sharing the pleasure of food and nature with urban youth and families. As part of this work she climbed Mt. Whitney and rafted the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon
. Teper has worked for women's health and reproductive rights, an end to US military action and occupation, LGBT liberation and environmental sustainability. She has a background in popular education, social, economic and environmental justice, and youth empowerment which she brought to her work with COLAGE.
She joined COLAGE in October 1993 and has been an active participant and leader in the LGBT
family movement ever since. Prior to being COLAGE's Executive Director, she served on the COLAGE Steering Committee and as chair of the COLAGE Board of Directors for almost seven years. In 1994 she marched and spoke at the rally in New York City for the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots
. In 2003 she became COLAGE's third executive director. In 2005 she led COLAGE's Hurricane Katrina
relief efforts to support LGBT families and groups. In 2006 she presented and co-sponsored several workshops and caucuses focused on LGBT families at the 18th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change in Kansas City. In 2008 she coordinated the national group's participation in American Family Outing (AFO), an outreach effort to communities of faith sponsored by Soulforce
, in collaboration with the National Black Justice Coalition, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and COLAGE. The AFO is a "family-to-family visits with the parishioners and leaders of six of America’s most influential megachurches, including Joel Osteen
, T.D. Jakes, and Rick Warren
." As of 2008 Teper overseas the administration of 65 chapters in 32 states and affiliates in Canada, Sweden, and England.National Black Justice Coalition. In 2010 Teper and COLAGE along with The Progressive Project filed amicus curiae
brief in support of the plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Proposition 8
). The brief focuses on "the harm that occurs to children of same-sex couples when marriage equality is banned".
Currently she meets other children with gay parents, lectures on gay family rights and works to protect the rights of Queerspawn, a term identifying children of LGBTIQ parents. She leads COLAGE workshops each summer during Family Week in Provincetown on Cape Cod
.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual, transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
, or queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
parents". She is a leading and outspoken advocate for the rights of LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
families and for children with gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
parents everywhere and is considered an authority on LGBT parenting
LGBT parenting
LGBT parenting refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people parenting one or more children. This includes children raised by same-sex couples , children raised by single LGBT parents, and children raised by an opposite-sex couple where at least one partner is LGBT.LGBT people can...
issues.
Biography
Teper's community organizing began at age nine - helping on mailings and selling buttons for the SF chapter of National Organization for WomenNational Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
. Teper was ten when her mother came out as a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and twelve when her best friend and many other friends abandoned and harassed her after finding out about her mom. It wasn't until Teper was 24 that she found a community of other young people with families like hers.
A San Francisco native and Oakland resident, Teper attended public schools in San Francisco and graduated from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
with a B.A. in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, Latin American Studies
Latin American Studies
Latin American studies is an academic discipline dealing with the study of Latin America and Latin Americans.-Definition:Latin American studies critically examines the history, culture, politics, and experiences of Latin Americans in Latin America and often also elsewhere .Latin American studies...
and Women's Studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
. Before joining COLAGE she was a leader of outdoor adventures and activism: leading wilderness expeditions, teaching environmental ethics, and sharing the pleasure of food and nature with urban youth and families. As part of this work she climbed Mt. Whitney and rafted the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
. Teper has worked for women's health and reproductive rights, an end to US military action and occupation, LGBT liberation and environmental sustainability. She has a background in popular education, social, economic and environmental justice, and youth empowerment which she brought to her work with COLAGE.
She joined COLAGE in October 1993 and has been an active participant and leader in the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
family movement ever since. Prior to being COLAGE's Executive Director, she served on the COLAGE Steering Committee and as chair of the COLAGE Board of Directors for almost seven years. In 1994 she marched and spoke at the rally in New York City for the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
. In 2003 she became COLAGE's third executive director. In 2005 she led COLAGE's Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
relief efforts to support LGBT families and groups. In 2006 she presented and co-sponsored several workshops and caucuses focused on LGBT families at the 18th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change in Kansas City. In 2008 she coordinated the national group's participation in American Family Outing (AFO), an outreach effort to communities of faith sponsored by Soulforce
Soulforce
Soulforce may refer to:* Soulforce is an American LGBT-issue-focused social justice and civil rights organization.* Soulforce Revolution is the 1989 release of the punk band 7 Seconds....
, in collaboration with the National Black Justice Coalition, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and COLAGE. The AFO is a "family-to-family visits with the parishioners and leaders of six of America’s most influential megachurches, including Joel Osteen
Joel Osteen
Joel Scott Osteen is an American author, televangelist, and the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. His ministry reaches over seven million broadcast media viewers weekly in over 100 nations around the world.-Biography:...
, T.D. Jakes, and Rick Warren
Rick Warren
Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical Christian minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
." As of 2008 Teper overseas the administration of 65 chapters in 32 states and affiliates in Canada, Sweden, and England.National Black Justice Coalition. In 2010 Teper and COLAGE along with The Progressive Project filed amicus curiae
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...
brief in support of the plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
). The brief focuses on "the harm that occurs to children of same-sex couples when marriage equality is banned".
Currently she meets other children with gay parents, lectures on gay family rights and works to protect the rights of Queerspawn, a term identifying children of LGBTIQ parents. She leads COLAGE workshops each summer during Family Week in Provincetown on Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
.