Ken's Story

My partner Jeffrey and I are committed to making the world a better place for our son Jackson and for all kids. We believe that families are defined by love and commitment and that's why we jumped at the opportunity to harness the power of our social networks to ignite social change with the SixDegrees.org fundraising badge.

I chose Family Pride for my charity badge because the organization’s vision is that all loving families should be recognized, respected, protected and celebrated. Family Pride works with other progressive advocacy groups, local parents groups, families, friends and allies to empower gay and lesbian families - changing hearts and minds across this country.

At the beginning of the celebrity badge campaign, I set a goal of 1,138 donations because that’s the number of federal laws and provisions that guarantee rights and privileges for married couples and therefore the number of federal laws and provisions that exclude families like mine. I’m thrilled at the success of my efforts.

Like all parents, we want to leave a better world for our son - a world that is more just, more loving and more equal, so it was an inspiration to see so many individuals across the country spread the word of my badge to friends, family and coworkers. The badge created a virtual community of citizens that took a stand for this shared vision of family equality.

At the end of the day, this struggle is not about gay or straight, it's about family. For more information about Family Pride visit www.familypride.org.