There are lots of ways to make your voice heard.  Many members have chosen to speak with their membership dues and leave the organization completely.  Others have chosen to withhold their dues, or switch their member status to “conscientious objector” in response to the repeated refusal of the CAMFT Board of Directors to take a public stance in support of marriage equality.

For others, the idea of remaining an active member of the organization in order to effect change through the bylaws and organizational structure may be appealing.  This page will illustrate different ways that you can use your current membership and passion to help us change CAMFT for the better by using the infrastructure that’s already in place.

Our Petitions

There has been a petition circulating among the membership which generated 1,037 signatures before it was presented to CAMFT.  This petition outlined six requests from CTME to the CAMFT Board of Directors including adopting a statement in support of marriage equality, and retracting and apologizing for the offensive articles published in the last issue of The Therapist.  You can view the petition and the read the compelling comments of those who signed by following the link below.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/requesting-camft-apologize-support-marriage-equality

Withhold Dues

There are members who are withholding dues until CAMFT takes definitive action regarding Marriage and Family Equality. Some CAMFT chapters are investigating the possibility of contentious objector status as well. Find out more about these efforts by clicking on the link below!

www.ct4me.org/withhold_dues/

Start the Discussion

Bring up the issue of CAMFT’s refusal to adopt a formal statement supporting marriage equality at your next chapter meeting.  Much to our dismay, many chapter leaders remain unaware of the controversy surrounding this issue within the organization.  We encourage you to be an advocate for change in your chapter, and help us inform the larger membership about this very urgent matter!

Stay Tuned in September

A representative of CTME, Angela Kahn, will be making a presentation to the Board of Directors on September 12, 2009 in Sedona, Arizona.  This is the second time the board will hear a presentation regarding this issue, and the fourth formal attempt to demand a supportive statement on marriage equality from CAMFT.  During this presentation, CTME will make three demands:

1. •Adopt a public statement in support of marriage equality.
   

2. •Retract and apologize for the offensive articles in The Therapist, both on the website, and in the next issue.
   

3. •Replace the current Chair of the Diversity Conference next May to ensure that seminars on “diversity” will include LGBT sensitivity training.
   

If CAMFT fails to meet these demands by SEPTEMBER 26, you can join the movement to call a Special Meeting of the Members, or you can withdraw your membership completely.  We encourage and support either of these actions.

Invoke the Bylaws

Article V Section B allows the members to call a Special Membership Meeting upon gathering 1,500 signatures.  Article V Section E allows the membership to take action on behalf of the organization if a quorum of 176 members is present, and a majority vote is won.  If you are unhappy with the results of the Sedona meeting, join us when we call a Special Membership Meeting to address our concerns as well as the conduct of some board members.  We’ll need your signature along with 1,499 others.

Vote for the Board

If you are happy with the results of the Sedona meeting, help us move onto the next step by reconstituting the CAMFT Board of Directors with new members that are sensitive to the needs of the LGBT community.  The following members of CTME are considering running for a seat in the next election:

Bruce Weitzman, San Francisco

Bruce is currently the President of the San Francisco chapter of CAM

FT and is a founding member of CTME. Under his leadership, San Francisco became the first CAMFT chapter to register a formal objection to the association’s position of silence on the issue of same-sex marriage. With the leaders of other Bay Area chapters, he coordinated surveys demonstrating that chapter members are overwhelmingly in favor of CAMFT’s support for marriage equality. He presented these findings to the CAMFT board in March 2009 along with a request that the association adopt a statement advocating marriage equality. Bruce has made presentations on marriage equality and same-gender parenting at various CAMFT chapter meetings and at community meetings hosted by Gaylesta and CTME. He is an advocate for changing CAMFT from within and believes that the association needs to become more inclusive, adopting a broader mission and speaking out on societal issues, especially in areas of discrimination and social injustice. He is openly gay, has a partner of eighteen years, and is part of a nontraditional family that includes two very precocious and lovable sons.

Jurgen Braungardt, Oakland

Jurgen Braungardt grew up in Germany, studied psychology and philosophy at the University of Munich, and came to the US about 20 years ago. He has been involved with psychoanalytic movements, as well as with existential-humanistic therapist groups. He currently teaches classes in political philosophy, human rights and social justice, as well as global justice, at the Cal State East Bay. He is also a psychotherapist in private practice in Oakland, California.

I am running for a seat on the CAMFT State Board because I want to change not just the stance towards Marriage Equality, but I want to change the culture of CAMFT towards more openness, cultural diversity, and more inclusiveness. In order to achieve this, we need to push for some structural changes within the organization, for instance towards more internal democracy. I also feel that therapists should participate more in public debates, for instance on torture, human rights, same-sex marriage, poverty, and health care. We, as a group, could have a stronger public voice, and I think that CAMFT can grow into this direction, in addition to representing our professional interests.

Angela Kahn, Los Angeles

Angela has been a member of CAMFT since graduate school, and is one of the founding members of CTME.  She sits on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Chapter of CAMFT as the Board Secretary, and chairs both the Advocacy Committee and the Elections Committee.  Angela is a private practitioner in West Hollywood where she specializes in self-injury.  She has contributed to Louis Cozolino’s The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy (second edition), written several articles explaining self-injury to the layperson, and given countless presentations and trainings to therapists aspiring to know more about this population.  Angela is committed to ensuring equal rights for the LGBT community, and works in her free time to develop cultural competency around these issues within the larger organization of CAMFT.