'We Want To Be A Part Of the Community'

Picnic tables were covered with chips, peanuts, pretzels and other goodies.

Both kids and adults soared high on swings, and a volleyball game attracted a crowd.

Regular passersby would have likely never known that this was a Sunday afternoon gathering in the park for the gay-lesbian group Rainbow Family.

The fledgling gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender group first met in June and formally meets socially once a month.

Halloween and Thanksgiving activities are also scheduled, in addition to Sunday's event that attracted more than 70 members, families and friends.

Dennie Need, of Sebring, found a chair in the shade and sat with both new and old friends he'd met through the Rainbow Family.

"I love meeting people," he said. "We have nice, clean fun. It's just like heterosexual couples; your friends don't care about your sexuality."

Cheyenne Morin talked baseball. He wore a Cubs baseball cap and said he hoped to see the Rays host the Cubs in the World Series.

"We get to meet people who understand a side of me that my straight friends don't," said Morin.

Richard Gates, of Sebring, enjoys the new group's social activities.

"This is our family," he said. "Suddenly we have a whole group of friends who are very welcoming."

Jim Narbone said there was a "definite need" for the Rainbow Family in rural Highlands County.

The group already established bylaws and elected officers and a board of directors.

Family members are also reaching out to civic organizations to volunteer.

"We want to be a part of the community," said Narbone. "We want to make sure we're working for people who feel positive about our community.

"We just want to be a regular part of the community. I just want to be your neighbor, not your gay neighbor."

Jennifer Lewis attended the picnic with her 22-year-old daughter, Nicole Lewis, who was conceived through artificial insemination. Nicole's father was gay and died of AIDS.

The 19-year-old son of Jennifer's partner also sat chatting around a picnic table.

"It's important to be honest and raised in an open environment," Jennifer Lewis said about daughter Nicole's upbringing. "It's good to be exposed to everybody. We're just people. We're not different and you shouldn't be judge by who you're with."

Stephanie Devlin, of Sebring, looked around her and noted that everyone was part of her "family."

"This is a great thing for a community to fall back on," said Devlin. "And it's something that could really move on to great things."

For more information about the Rainbow Family in Highlands County, email thehighlandsrainbowfamily@live.com