Around the age of 14, I decided I wanted to be a foster parent some day.

In Oregon, where I grew up, my grandma’s sister, who I spent a lot of time with, became a foster parent around that time, and across the country in New Jersey, my FTM uncle and his (male) partner were in the process of adopting four young children themselves.

(Read "Teen Queen Part 1: A fostering story" here.)

To be honest, when my teen queen came to live with me it was both amazing and amazingly hard.

As many as 100,000 came into downtown Oakland this weekend for the second annual Oakland Pride festival, which had a new emphasis on family and youth.

In a partnership addressing the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) seniors in Alameda County elder care facilities, Salem Lutheran Home, Center for Elder Independence, and Lavender Seniors of the East Bay are working together to survey and develop programs to assist LGBT elders who reside in elder care communities in Alameda County.