Jennifer Chrisler
Blog Post List
June 30, 2011
The Family Equality Council, America’s foremost advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families, today issued a statement congratulating New Yorkers for achieving marriage equality. On behalf of the 1 million LGBT parents raising 2 million children in our country today, I want to thank Governor Cuomo, the Senate and Assembly, and the people of New York. New York alone is home to 7,200 of those same-sex couples and 14,000 of their children. Those children need the legal security afforded by marriage. They want to know that both their parents can visit them in the hospital...
MomsRising
Together
May 11, 2011
May is National Foster Care Awareness month, a time when our country and Congress need to pay attention to the plight of the more than 424,000 children living in foster care. But we need to do more than be aware about this issue, we need to act. Recently the Every Child Deserves a Family Act was introduced in the House by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) along with more than 30 other co-sponsors. A companion bill will be introduced in the Senate soon. The bill would ensure that our country is doing everything possible to move children out of the foster care system and into permanent loving homes. It...
MomsRising
Together
July 28, 2010
I want to share this op-ed published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution with everyone who believes that gay adoption is a family issue, not a political one. Please re-post to Facebook, Tweet, or send to others if you like it. — Jenn A week before the Republican gubernatorial primary, Karen Handel said gay parenting is not “in the best interest of the child.” When asked by an Atlanta TV reporter why she thought gay parents aren’t legitimate, Handel replied, “Because I don’t.” She went on to say she would outlaw gay adoptions. As gay parents, we strongly disagree with Handel on the legitimacy...
MomsRising
Together
June 25, 2010
I want to share this article published on CNN.com this week with all the moms out there who agree our child’s well being comes first–-and that good parents come in many forms. No one family is better than any other. Please re-post to Facebook, Tweet, or send to other moms (and dads) if you like it. -- Jenn (CNN) -- This month we celebrate Gay Pride. But I'd like to suggest that we take this opportunity to celebrate gay parent pride. We should acknowledge that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people do what every other American tries to do. They want to pursue life, liberty, happiness,...
MomsRising
Together
June 3, 2010
At 7am one January morning last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents knocked on Shirley Tan's front door. The agents had come to deport her back to Philippines because her application for asylum, filed years earlier, had been denied. In front of her twin boys, ICE handcuffed her and threw her into a waiting van. Turns out Tan had no idea her application had been denied. Tan’s partner, Jay Mercado, an American citizen, could not sponsor Shirley for residency. Both are women-- who have been together for more than two decades. Same-sex partners can’t do what straight Americans...
MomsRising
Together
June 24, 2009
I grew up in Upstate New York, but went to college in Western Massachusetts and moved to Boston thereafter. I fell in love with a city and a state so steeped in history yet so forward-thinking. I started my career in politics and advocacy here. I met my future wife, Cheryl Jacques. I gave birth to our twin sons, Tim and Tom. We fought for marriage equality with the rest of our community, our families and friends, and together we won. Tim and Tom were two years old when Cheryl and I married, right here in Boston. We were living in Silver Spring, Maryland, at the time, a few months shy of the...
MomsRising
Together