Actors Charlie Condou and Sophie Ward were the special guests at an event that took place at the beginning of February at the London headquarters of international banking group, Societe Generale. The company's UK LGB network group had invited them to speak at its first key event of 2013, a lunchtime talk on the advantages and challenges of being an alternative family.
Both Charlie and Sophie, who live with same-sex partners and have children, spoke about the experience of being a gay parent. Condou – known to millions for his role as Marcus Dent in Coronation Street – talked about becoming a father with his partner and a close female friend. The three co-parents now share the upbringing of a young girl and boy.
Ward was previously married to a man, with whom she had two sons. In the late 1990s, however, she left her husband after falling in love with a woman and realising that she was gay. This put her private life into the headlines, and she talked about the experience as well as how she handled the situation with her sons, who remained with her and her new partner.
After their talks, the duo took questions from the audience, with Societe Generale staff asking them about school bullying, the legal issues concerned with gay parenthood and whether either had experienced prejudice. The event was partly the idea of Square Peg Media, which not only publishes Out In The City but also organises the annual Alternative Parenting Show, and is currently helping to raise awareness around alternative parenting with LGBT and family networks.
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