PFLAG
40 years ago this week, Queens, New York schoolteacher Jeanne Manford marched with her gay son, Morty, in New York’s Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade carrying a sign that read “Parents of Gays Unite in Support for Our Children." She took this historic step after learning of an assault on his life due to his sexual orientation, while police stood by and did nothing to help him. The response to Manford's public support of her son was overwhelming and she was begged by parade participants to speak to other parents and families. Through the next year, this grassroots family and ally movement spread like wildfire and in 1973 Manford, along with a small group of dedicated parents, founded PFLAG, an organization for parents, families, friends, and straight allies to unite with LGBT people in a shared mission of support, education, and advocacy. That this movement spread so quickly—long before the age of the Internet and mobile phones—was clear evidence of the need for this organization, the first and only of its kind.
Come and join us, we meet every second Monday of the month at 7pm at the church.
