YMCA expands family definition

Walking into the Downtown Durham YMCA to pick up her daughter, Betsy Barton finds comfort knowing that she and her partner are members of an organization that no longer discriminates against diverse family structures.

Barton was one of several concerned members who joined forces to form YMCA for All.

The organization was started by a group of gay and straight members who wished to expand family membership rates to address the needs of alternative families. This included gay and lesbian couples, single-parent families and other legal guardians and their children.

"The definition of family is much broader than what the traditional church has defined it to be," said Duke University law student Teresa Sakash, member of YMCA for All.

The issue arose when the Downtown Durham YMCA joined with the YMCA of the Triangle Area, a group that now includes 13 area branches.

Under the previous policy, gay and lesbian couples were not included in the family rate and paid a difference of more than $500 a year, Sakash said.

"It really hurts the kids," she said. "It says that your family is not a family."

To push for the change in pricing structure, YMCA for All members worked to educate YMCA officials on the unfairness of the policy. Some Durham members showed their support for the policy change by threatening to cancel their memberships if the policy was not revised.

After their efforts, the YMCA decided in October to change its policy to include equal benefits for any adult and dependents ages 22 and younger. It will go into effect for the majority of members starting Jan. 1.

"It's fair to everyone," said Jennifer Nelson, public relations director for the YMCA of the Triangle. "It includes more kids."

Duke was a major advocate of the policy change and in April threatened to end its relationship with the YMCA if it refused to offer family memberships to Duke employees who are part of same-sex couples.

Under a previous agreement, Duke promoted the YMCA in its employee literature in exchange for Duke employees receiving discounted memberships.

Although Duke advocated the change and is a financial contributor to the YMCA, its monetary influence did not directly affect the decision, Sakash said.

"I don't think that the YMCA caved," she said. "I think it was just something that they hadn't deeply considered."

The YMCA of the Triangle Area is a member of the national YMCA of the USA organization but is independently governed. While the national organization encourages community branches to be responsive to alternative family structures, the individual branches have the final say in policy changes, said Arnold Collins, spokesman for the YMCA of the USA.

After deciding to change the policy, the YMCA of the Triangle Area received responses from other communities that are deciding to make the same changes, Nelson said.

Barton put her efforts into YMCA for All because she said the issue directly affected her. Barton and her lesbian partner wanted their 4-year-old daughter, and all children like her, to feel included.

"It affected me personally because now I can participate in the YMCA knowing there's no active discrimination," she said.

YMCA for All considers the policy change a victory but will hold a meeting in December to decide if any further action needs to be taken.

"It's all about creating a better world for our kids, where every child knows that they're loved and valued, regardless of race, class or what they're family looks like," Barton said.

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