Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (FFLAG) is a voluntary organisation and registered charity[1] in the United Kingdom which offers support to parents and their lesbian/gay children. They have over 40 telephone helplines across the country, as well as several parent support groups.
The national organization was established in 1993, although the earliest of its constituent support groups were established as previous as the 1970s.
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Aims & Objectives
- FFLAG is dedicated to supporting parents and their Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual sons and daughters.
- FFLAG offers support to local parents groups and contacts, in their efforts to help parents and families understand accept and support their Lesbian Gay and Bisexual members with love and pride.
- FFLAG provides a central point for exchange of information between parents groups and local parent contacts.
- FFLAG supports the full human and civil rights of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals.
- FFLAG speaks out and acts to defend and enhance those human and civil rights.
Your Local Parent Contact
- Your local parent contact offers a confidential, listening ear and helps families and their Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual members understand and love one another.
- The local parents groups provide a chance to meet other parents in a friendly and informal setting and offers support where needed.
- Parents meet at the FFLAG conference and local parents groups providing a national network of support and friendship.
Publications
Video
FFLAG Video 'Parents Talking' exploring the thoughts of parents of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people, is a valuable resource for both organisations and parents. The video was first digitised by volunteers for DVD at the LGB national pen pals service distribution in 2004. The Parents Talking video had ceased to be available on Video format from 2006. An audio only version of the video had been available on the first flag web site and its archived site since 1997. Manchester parents group published the first full streamed version of the video in 2007 at http://www.manpg.co.uk/photos_parents_talking.htm
Sir Ian McKellen made an appearance in the 'Parents Talking Video' in which he gave a special message to others, who like himself found difficulty in coming out to parents. The message was also broadvast for the first time over the World Wide Web in real audio format in 1997.
Printed Publications Digitised
FFLAG have two booklets available for download both were originally wrote by the parents of Lesbian or Gay young people to assist others. The first titled A Guide for Families and Friends[2] deals with the many issues that in some cases may arise when a person makes the disclosure of sexuality. The second is How Do I Tell My Parents[3] and this discusses the many issues that often worry young people about the disclosure of sexuality.
The booklets aim to assist all parties in looking at the different aspects of the disclosure of sexuality. The booklets have been available for around thirty years and the content remains almost unchanged since Rose Robertson first put pen to paper. The publications were produced using a typewriter and then photocopied. The first editions were printed and distributed around Manchester in that time, especially at Manchester Lesbian and Gay Youth Group and the Gay Centre. Paul Lacey, whilst running the LGB National Pen Pals service created the first computer text versions from these around 1995. These early text files were then sent over on floppy disk to FFLAG so that higher numbers of printed copies could then be made from a computer and were distributed at venues across the UK by organisations including LGB National Pen Pals service who distributed to UK and worldwide members, TV TS News and through youth groups across the United Kingdom in addition to FFLAG who distributed to UK parents who make enquires to them.
LGB National Pen Pals volunteers assisted FFLAG in 2004 to be create the acrobat versions of the these publications which are still available today from the FFLAG.
Early Presence on Internet
Back in 1997/8 when the FFLAG website was first produced very few web sites used Multimedia. Few people had connection speed enough to view such sites. A Broadband connection then was very expensive and almost everyone used 56kps dial up or 33kps dialup. The FFLAG website was one of the first in the UK to use full video and audio Multimedia. The video stream today is linked to the Manchester parents Group. 10 years after the audio was first broadcast online. Broadband users in 2006 can now view the full video in WMV format.
Although FFLAG had been in existence a long time before its first web site only went live in 1997. Subsequent to the publishing of the first web site FFLAG gained sponsorship from Procter & Gamble for its printed publictions and gay.com who offered the organisation free web hosting and subject to gay.com web design.[4]
Patrons
Patrons include:
- Angela Mason, OBE (the first Chief Executive of Stonewall)
- Sir Ian McKellen
- Michael Cashman, MEP
- Doreen Massey, Baroness Massey of Darwen
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Registered Charity no. 1079918 at the Charity Commission
- ^ http://www.angelfire.com/in/horwich/fflag1.pdf A Guide for Families and Friends
- ^ http://www.angelfire.com/in/horwich/fflag2.pdf How Do I Tell My Parents
- ^ First Web site for FFLAG
External links
- Official website
- Archive FFLAG first web site 1999 [1]
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