Opinions
Growing up with gay godparents
It all seemed normal, until I reached middle school

By INGRID GOOCH
In my parents’ house there is a photo on the mantle, faded from years of exposure to the sun. It has always been a part of our house; for as long as I can remember, that faded photo has overlooked our family room. In it, my mom is dressed in blue and gold and two men are standing to her right. Her hair is up in a bun, decorated with flowers, and she is resting her hand on her stomach. The men are in suits with the most jovial expressions on their faces. I am also in the photo, though I was not yet born. I did not arrive until five months after this photo of my godparents’ civil union was taken. I never thought much about that photo until I began to grow up and realize that the world is not quite the haven of tolerance and acceptance of diversity that I had always assumed was typical.
Tolerance and acceptance of diversity are core values in our family, and this faded photo reminds me of the gift that my parents gave me by modeling these values over the course of my life. Today, civil unions and gay marriage are discussed openly in the news, but 17 years ago, before this topic was even acknowledged, we were doing it in our backyard.
As I am writing this, I am realizing that I have chosen the most difficult question to address because I have always recognized homosexuality as a normal part of life, and it had never occurred to me that this was something not everyone accepts; that loving my godparents fell into the category of acceptance and tolerance of diversity. I lost this naivety as I grew up and began to learn that homosexuality was considered a societal taboo. For example, when I started school, I would talk to people about my godparents, unintentionally making it clear that they were two men. It was a non-issue in my family, so at six years old I neither concealed it nor blurted it out. In fact, I didn’t even realize my godparents were gay until I was about 11 years old; it was that normal.
Once I got into middle and high school, though, I began to see opposition toward gays. For example, during a school dance, my straight girlfriend could not bring her straight girlfriend from another school because it was considered too “suggestively homosexual.” Additionally, I dated a boy who was horrified to discover that my cherished godparents were gay. He expressed his feelings by referring to them as “perverted” and “disgusting.” Since I had grown up with two men as godparents, this opposition was foreign to me, but once I was able to grasp that homosexuality was a controversy in our society, I made the conscious decision to support gay rights. Basically, I continued with what I had been doing all my life, exercising tolerance and acceptance of the diversity in our society, I just understood more clearly what I was really doing in making this conscious decision.
In high school, I began to lead by example rather than sitting quietly on the sidelines. Two of my high school friends found the courage the come out to me, an action that I deeply respect, as I now understand the level of trust such an action requires. Sadly, neither friend felt comfortable coming out to their parents. They both told me that if they were to tell their parents, they would be disowned. Whether that is an accurate assessment of how their parents would react is irrelevant; this is the very real fear with which they live.
I am concerned for my friends because, based on my godparents’ experiences, I know what life could be like for them. In 1984, one of my godparents was on a date with another man, enjoying a walk in the park. Thinking they were alone, they shared an innocent kiss and returned to their car. Suddenly, several men approached them, severely beat them, and chased after them with shotguns yelling that they were going to “kill you fags.” My other godparent was so tormented by the intolerance he witnessed in his school that, in order to survive, he joined the other boys in beating up gay schoolmates simply to hide the fact that he, himself, was gay — an act that he now thoroughly regrets.
Even today, despite the great progress our society has made for gay rights since the 20th century, intolerance exists en masse. My godparents cannot wear their wedding rings on their left hands, they cannot keep photos of their wedding, their vacations or their families on their desks at work; they cannot talk about their personal lives in the workplace or secure spousal insurance through their jobs; they cannot hold hands in public — all simple acts that the straight community takes for granted.
As a college-bound young adult, I respect the rights of those who disagree with me, but my concern is in the harm that intolerance of diversity can breed. I have a richer life because my friends — gay and straight — feel comfortable sharing their lives and experiences with me. Conversely, they have richer lives because I share my life and experiences with them. Our peaceful, non-judgmental coexistence benefits everyone and harms no one. This is, to me, the greatest gift that diversity in life grants us.
Ingrid Gooch, 17, graduated from the Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, Md., in June, and will attend Hood College in Frederick in the fall to study psychology and French.
Opinions
They Are Coming for All of Us

We at the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation, along with the entire LGBTQ+ community, are justifiably devastated by the US Supreme Court’s decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care for minors. In a 6-3 ruling that will likely have major implications for the entire community’s rights going forward, the court held that the law, which prohibits certain forms of medical treatment based on the recipient’s assigned sex at birth, did not violate the US constitution’s equal protection clause.
The Skrmetti decision held that Tennessee could ban gender-affirming care to minors based on medical diagnosis (gender dysphoria, gender incongruence or gender identity disorder) without violating the US constitution. In its analysis, the court ignored that these TGNCNBI-specific conditions were being differentiated on the basis of sex, rather than age (minority status) and/or medical diagnosis. Thus, instead of applying the “strict scrutiny” required for sex-based discrimination, the court applied a much lower “rational basis” standard to the law and allowed it to stand. The court cited “fierce scientific and policy debates” around gender-affirming care as the state’s rational basis, in spite of the vehement disagreement of all major medical associations. State laws in 24 other states are substantially similar, so this ruling could affect as many as 100,000 youth. Ironically, the ban contains an exception for nonconsensual surgeries on intersex youth.
This decision also does not bode well for people with other medical conditions that offer potential for discrimination, and may even expose people with TGNCNBI-specific conditions to future discriminatory treatment, legislation, or action. In fact, the court’s ruling has major implications for the bodily autonomy of every American.
We at the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation are more committed than ever to supporting the TGNCNBI community in their fight for equal rights and access to the healthcare they deserve. As we all know, this decision has potentially deadly consequences. As one united LGBTQ+ community, we need to make ourselves more visible than ever to show that we exist, have always existed, and will not be silenced by a political and judicial movement that is trying to erase us.
Leonard Litz is responding to this moment by increasing our support in both our TransPLUS and Advocacy initiatives. We are also reaching out to offer support to organizations that serve the needs of trans and intersex youth who are being affected by this draconian decision. Additionally, the TransPLUS Resource Center will continue to offer services to the community as its needs grow and evolve.
We appreciate everyone’s support of our TGNCNBI youth and thank you all that you do for the LGBTQ+ community!
Robyn Schlesinger is a Trustee of the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation and Director of the TransPLUS Resource Center
Opinions
A Country Worth Fighting For
Producer of Putt Across America at The Wharf through September 1, 2025

Like many Americans, I woke up the morning after election night and the words on my phone screen felt like a fever dream. The New York Times declared “TRUMP STORMS BACK”. My boyfriend and I clutched onto our dog, staying in bed as long as we could. When we finally ventured out of our apartment and into the streets of New York, disappointment felt thick in the air. How could this happen again, and what would be left of America in four years?
My team and I had already spent weeks ideating on a touring mini golf experience centered around US landmarks and landscapes. We were certain that a positive outcome – the outcome we wanted for the election – was practically guaranteed. As the weeks of processing and acceptance began to roll along, we had to make a decision – do we stay on course or do we put this project’s concept on the shelf, possibly forever?
As a young, gay CEO of an entertainment company on a mission to bring impactful experiences to cities across the US, I made a choice: this country, its spirit, and its vast diversity, both in its people and its places, is not to be taken from us. And even in our greatest moments of despair, what is hiding behind the heartbreak is hope for an America that respects, reflects, and represents us all.
So we decided to lock in and bring Putt Across America to life – in a way that celebrates the places that compose our country and the people that create them. Red, white, and blue belong to all of us, and as the country turns 250, it’s on all of us to set the stage for the next 250 years to come.

The “easy summer nostalgia” aesthetic at Putt Across America is deeply intentional and took serious work to craft. When I think back to summers as a kid, I feel a great sense of ease, calm, and peace- I think of unmitigated joy defined by experiences shared with loved ones. I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but I know it is something everyone deserves. That’s what lies at the heart of this project- a blissful summer experience that will create memories poised to last a lifetime.
Putt Across America, Courtesy of Junto Entertainment
My hope is that people have that same feeling of peace when they join us for a round of mini golf this summer. While looking across the course to see Boston on one end, The Grand Canyon on the other, and over a dozen other states in between, I hope they are reminded that this America is for all of us. While exploring our bonus enrichment for each hole, I hope they realize the act of protest and the want for better for our country started long before there even was a United States.
That no one can take this away. And that the promise of tomorrow is something we create, nurture, and pass along to the next generations.
So let’s keep up the fight and further our love for America. Through our actions, through our votes, or even through something as simple as a game of mini golf.
Chris Goodwin is the CEO Junto Entertainment.
Africa
American Evangelical churches masquerade as connoisseurs of African family values
Anti-LGBTQ Family Watch International, partners held conference in Nairobi last month

On Friday, May 16, 2025, Family Watch International and its partners gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, for a week-long conference themed “the Pan-African Conference on Family Values.” Family Watch International is a U.S. Christian conservative organization led by the infamous Sharon Slater. This anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ+ organization lobbies in the United Nations and countries around the world to push their anti-rights and anti-gender agenda.
This wasn’t the first conference convened on East African soil; one such was held in Uganda, from May 9-11, 2025, where Family Watch International was also a part. East Africa seems to be the hub for conservative U.S. evangelists, and one wonders why. The conference is a series of conferences focusing on what they call traditional African family values. Again, one wonders what gives an American organization the authority to speak to Africans about African Family values. After the May gathering in Nairobi, the delegates released a press statement introducing and claiming to be adopting what they labelled “The Nairobi Declaration on Family Values.”
Funded misinformation
This article was thus born to review and address, particularly, the “African family” ideas purported in the declaration. The first inquiry is, who is funding the conference? This conference is heavily funded and guided by the ultraconservative far-right evangelical movements from America and Europe. The African hosts, the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum and the Kenyan Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and actors are merely tokens in this scheme aimed at taking over Africa by erasing its actual values and redefining them from a Western and Eurocentric religious lens. The colonial missionaries historically employed this very familiar move. Another blatant untruth in their declaration is the claim that they represent governments, civil society, academia, religious bodies, and “allied international partners.” There has been no evidence to prove this claim, except for the participants who are known conservatives, infamous for their hate and anti-rights rhetoric from countries such as Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. This piece of misinformation and disinformation is one of the strategies they employ to make it seem like most, if not all, African governments and masses approve of their unscientific absurdity.
African Family values owned by foreign entities
According to the declaration, their engagements aim to “Promoting and Protecting Family Values in Challenging Times,” advocate for and protect the “natural family.” It is rather peculiar that American and European organizations would lead a conversation about African family values. These are modern imperialists; they intend to cement their Western-centric idea of a family. Their family structure comprises a mother, a father, and children, while the African family is beyond that. Although nuclear family units do exist within African society, it is the more nuanced family structures consisting of “children, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters who may have their own children and other immediate relatives” that dominate the African family traditions. Often in rural areas, children are communally raised by their grandmothers, aunts, and siblings, as the parents go to the cities for economic opportunities and serve more as financial support for their young. It is therefore naïve for these modern imperialists to falsely claim a singular and rigid definition of family, especially as it concerns African people. Failure to acknowledge the diversities and complexities that exist within African family structures is both delusional and a clear indication of how there is nothing Pan-African about the conference itself.
Nothing Pan-African about it
Furthermore, how does a Pan-African family conference discuss African family values without African traditional leaders, elders, and spiritual leaders? Their exclusion of these figures demonstrates that they uphold the colonial and missionary legacy. It remains the view of the majority of Africans that those in traditional roles are the true custodians of the African culture, language, traditions, customs, and values, and these individuals clearly misalign with these modern imperialists’ agenda and mandate, thus illegitimizing claims of Pan-Africanism and protecting African family and values. The cognitive dissonance is evident in African actors who adopt those imported religious beliefs and regard them as superior to true African spirituality and culture, making these individuals modern imperialists.
Misleading the people
The intentional misuse of the term “Pan-African” not only misleads but can also entice those who believe what the term has historically meant, while in actual fact, the ideals they are spreading are far from Pan-Africanism. Meanwhile, African human rights organizations and those who can legitimately claim Pan-Africanism are concerned about colonial laws and the reform and eradication of colonial legacies. The modern imperialists, on the other hand, are reinforcing the colonial legacy by using confusing and dividing language aimed at causing moral panic among African communities.
Erasure
Activists in Kenya who have been following and monitoring the work of Family Watch International in Africa have argued that their agenda poses a grave threat to erasing Africa’s rich diversity of families. What the conference deems un-African are the same characteristics that the colonial missionaries historically labelled undesirable when they indoctrinated African societies in Christianity and its values, when Africans were made to believe that their own spiritualities are demonic.
The term “values” becomes redundant when it is solely tied to Christianity and disregards true African realities. They are causing confusion among African societies through the use of desirable and triggering language such as “Pan-Africa” and “African values.” When people are divided and busy fighting each other, important issues will fall through the cracks, go unnoticed, and there will be a lack of accountability. These modern imperialists use tactics to distract the African nation with these ideas that historically have never been a problem within African societies; meanwhile, the looting of the African land continues, and so does the exploitation of its minerals and resources. This article is part of the Southern Africa Litigation Center’s campaign around addressing hate speech, misinformation and disinformation. #StopTheHate #TruthMatters
Daniel Digashu is a consultant at the Southern Africa Litigation Center.