On March 11, 1973, Jeanne Manford, a teacher, and her husband Jules, a dentist, at the urging of their gay son Morty, held the first meeting of what would become known as PFLAG, an organization—nay, a movement—of allyship and love.
A California shop owner, community leader, and mother of nine children was killed Friday by a man who objected to her flying a Pride flag outside her clothing store and then shot her.
Yesterday was the annual Jazz & Friends National Day of School and Community Readings, organized by HRC’s Welcoming Schools program. Watch Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), the first lesbian mom elected to Congress, and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), a strong LGBTQ ally, read two great children’s books on gender identity on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives!
Mary Griffith, a conservative Christian who came to champion LGBTQ equality after the death of her gay son in 1983, died last Friday at her home in California. Her journey inspired a book and the award-winning movie based on it, Prayers for Bobby.
February, despite being the shortest month, is often a hard one. Where I live, any day might be a snow day, with my son home from school and the sidewalks needing to be shoveled. The usual routine of laundry and groceries and dinner doesn’t stop. In recent weeks, too, I have been distracted by the news stories of a government chipping away at the rights of LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others. How not to be overwhelmed by it all? Here are some of the stories about LGBTQ families and our allies making February just a bit warmer.
Let’s head into the weekend with some wise words from President Barack Obama at the White House LGBT Pride Reception.
It’s National Coming Out Day, so I thought I’d post a slightly revised version of my “How to Respond When Meeting Lesbian Moms,” which I first posted on NCOD back in 2005.
As Pride Month winds down, I want to give a nod to our allies, who play a vital role in building bridges as we move towards equality. One example is mom Emily Rosenbaum, who writes at Kveller about walking in Boston’s Pride Parade with her kids and their synagogue. They go to Pride, she says,
It may not quite be an Internet meme, but several writers in the past month have offered their thoughts on what not to say to lesbian moms. Judy Gold at HuffPo gives a personal story about “The Question You Should Never Ask a Lesbian Mom”; Jeanne Sager at The Stir lists “5 Things Never to Say to Lesbian Moms”; and L. A. Pintea at Parents.com relates “10 Things You Shouldn’t Ask a Lesbian Mom.” It’s enough to make people think they should never approach us. I’d like to turn things around here, and suggest several things you should say to lesbian moms.
Forty years ago, Jeanne Manford wrote to the New York Post, angry that city police had done nothing to prevent her son Morty from being assaulted during a gay rights march. “My son is a homosexual, and I love him,” she asserted—after which her son told her, “No mother has ever announced to the world her son is gay.” The next year, at the urging of members of the gay and lesbian community, she founded the organization that would become PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Manford turned 92 today. PFLAG is encouraging people to send her their best wishes.
