2008 Woodie Awards
LGBT family photos on display for new exhibit
Center for Student Diversity will house pictures through April
Carrie Wood
News | 4/10/08
Photos of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families are now on display in the Center for Student Diversity as part of an exhibit that will run through the end of April called "Love Makes a Family."
The photo display, based on a book of the same name, had its opening ceremonies on Monday, April 7. About 30 people attended the exhibit opening that featured LGBT families as panelists for audience questions.
"I enjoyed that, the way they did this was by bringing in families," Paz Galupo, a psychology professor and director of the multicultural institute, said. "I love looking at these stories [from the book] but I also think that making it more personal by bringing in families was good."
Santiago Solis, senior director for the center for student diversity, said that the audience response to the panelists was positive.
"The people who came had really good questions about adoption and insemination, stuff like that. There was even a surrogate mother who was here to help people who had those questions. It went well," he said.
Carin Sailer-Galupo, a Towson University alumnus and wife of Galupo, said she believed the panel presentation was beneficial to the audience.
"I think that there are a lot of questions that LGBT individuals have about starting a family," she said. "There are so many questions like 'do we adopt?' or 'how do we find a surrogate?' and I feel like a lot of those individuals feel like they need to have all the answers before starting a family. As a parent, I know that you're never going to have all the answers, but I think it helps some people to hear the experiences of others."
Solis said that the point of "Love Makes a Family" is to bring awareness to the fact that there are many different types of families, as well as provide examples for LGBT individuals who may be thinking about starting one itself.
"It's just a celebration of love," Sailer-Galupo said. "Even if you're not an LGBT individual, or if you are and you don't want to have children, it's just something to acknowledge that another family put themselves out there in front of the community to educate others. Families come in all different forms, so people should come to the exhibit to see that and to educate themselves."
Galupo agreed with her wife, saying that the exhibit helps to dispel stereotypes about the LGBT community.
"A lot of times, when people think of LGBT issues, they only think about sex. That's the first thing people think about, and that does such a disservice to us because we're full people who live full lives," she said. "People don't think about what our children go through or what our parents do to support us. I think [this exhibit] is something that hopefully everybody can identify with in some way."
The photo display, based on a book of the same name, had its opening ceremonies on Monday, April 7. About 30 people attended the exhibit opening that featured LGBT families as panelists for audience questions.
"I enjoyed that, the way they did this was by bringing in families," Paz Galupo, a psychology professor and director of the multicultural institute, said. "I love looking at these stories [from the book] but I also think that making it more personal by bringing in families was good."
Santiago Solis, senior director for the center for student diversity, said that the audience response to the panelists was positive.
"The people who came had really good questions about adoption and insemination, stuff like that. There was even a surrogate mother who was here to help people who had those questions. It went well," he said.
Carin Sailer-Galupo, a Towson University alumnus and wife of Galupo, said she believed the panel presentation was beneficial to the audience.
"I think that there are a lot of questions that LGBT individuals have about starting a family," she said. "There are so many questions like 'do we adopt?' or 'how do we find a surrogate?' and I feel like a lot of those individuals feel like they need to have all the answers before starting a family. As a parent, I know that you're never going to have all the answers, but I think it helps some people to hear the experiences of others."
Solis said that the point of "Love Makes a Family" is to bring awareness to the fact that there are many different types of families, as well as provide examples for LGBT individuals who may be thinking about starting one itself.
"It's just a celebration of love," Sailer-Galupo said. "Even if you're not an LGBT individual, or if you are and you don't want to have children, it's just something to acknowledge that another family put themselves out there in front of the community to educate others. Families come in all different forms, so people should come to the exhibit to see that and to educate themselves."
Galupo agreed with her wife, saying that the exhibit helps to dispel stereotypes about the LGBT community.
"A lot of times, when people think of LGBT issues, they only think about sex. That's the first thing people think about, and that does such a disservice to us because we're full people who live full lives," she said. "People don't think about what our children go through or what our parents do to support us. I think [this exhibit] is something that hopefully everybody can identify with in some way."
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