Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
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Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
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| Founded | 1972, New York City, New York, United States |
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| Area served | Global |
| Focus | LGBT activism |
| Method | Campaigning, Advocacy, Support groups, Public speaking, education |
| Website | www.PFLAG.org |
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is a socio-political group of family members and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
PFLAG has more than 350 affiliates throughout the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 11 other countries.
The acronym PFLAG is pronounced "P-FLAG" (/ˈpiːflæɡ/), and until removal of the hyphen in 1993 was officially styled in that manner.[1]
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Contents
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History
The event that sparked PFLAG was in 1972 when Jeanne Manford was watching a TV news report and saw her son "being tossed down an escalator during a gay rights protest while the New York City Police Department stood by and watched."[2]
The idea for the organization arose when Jeanne Manford marched with her gay son, Morty, carrying a sign saying: "Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children" in New York City's Christopher Street Liberation Day Gay Pride Parade (now known as Heritage of Pride) after many gay and lesbian people ran up to Jeanne during the parade and begged her to talk to their parents.[3] She decided to form a support group for gays and lesbians and their families. The first formal meeting took place in March 1973 at a local church and approximately 20 people attended.[4] In time the scope of the organization – which turned into POG (Parents of Gays), later P-FLAG, and beginning in 1993, PFLAG – expanded to include bisexuals, and ultimately, transgender people.[5] In particular, in 1998, gender identity was added to the mission of PFLAG after a vote at their annual meeting in San Francisco.[6][7] PFLAG was the first national LGBT organization to officially adopt a transgender-inclusion policy for its work.[8] In 2002, PFLAG's Transgender Network, also known as TNET, became PFLAG's first official "Special Affiliate," recognized with the same privileges and responsibilities as regular chapters.[9]
Campaigns
"Stay Close" is a national campaign started in 2006 by PFLAG that encourages the family and friends of a LGBT persons to give them support.[10][dead link]
In the mid-1990s, "Project Open Mind" caused some controversy from Pat Robertson. He threatened to sue PFLAG and any television station that aired the project's ads, which showed clips of anti-LGBT quotes from several people, including Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and United States Sen. Jesse Helms.[11][dead link][12] The ads can currently be seen on the Commercial Closet webpage.
Outside of the United States
Similarly-purposed (and sometimes similarly-named) organizations have been established outside of the United States since PFLAG's 1972 establishment, although the majority of such organizations are unaffiliated with each other or with the US PFLAG. Most recently, a PFLAG organization in People's Republic of China, PFLAG China was established in June 2008 by Wu Youjian in Guangzhou after accepting her son's homosexuality[13].
Other organizations
- Tehila (Israel)
- Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (United Kingdom)
- PFLAG Canada (Separately originated, similarly named)
- Children Of Lesbians And Gays Everywhere (United States)
- Family Equality Council (North America)
- Tels Quels (Belgium)
- Families for Sexual Diversity (Latin America)
- CONTACT (France)
- BEFAH (Germany)
- AGEDO (Italy)
- Association of Fathers and Mothers of Gays and Lesbians (Spain)
- FELS (Switzerland)
- PFLAG Vietnam (Vietnam)
- PFLAG China (People's Republic of China)
- PFLAG in Australia
- PFLAG-South Africa
Opposition
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) was established in 1998 as a religious counter group to PFLAG and supporter of conversion therapy for LGBT individuals. In comparison to the visibility of PFLAG's representation at professional conferences, PFOX has been declined from numerous scientific conferences and denounced as an anti-gay front group.[citation needed]
Popular Culture
The organization is featured in the TV movie Prayers for Bobby.
See also
References
- ^ "See banner styled P-FLAG". PFLAG. http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=279. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
- ^ Rankin, Richard (Oct/November 2006, Issue #3). "Talking Tolerance". Wo! Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20071008151014/http://www.wo-magazine.com/website/issuethree/wofront.html. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ^ "History". http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=267. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
- ^ "History". http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=267. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
- ^ "History". http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=267. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
- ^ http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=398
- ^ "PFLAG: Policy Statements". PFLAG. http://community.pflag.org/page.aspx?pid=267. Retrieved 2010-06-30.[dead link]
- ^ http://community.pflag.org/page.aspx?pid=380
- ^ http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=398
- ^ "Stay Close::Pflag". Stay Close. http://www.stayclose.org/.
- ^ PFLAG: History
- ^ P-FLAG vs Pat Robertson
- ^ "'PFLAG' China meets in Beijing". Global Times. 10:33 November 01 2010. http://www.globaltimes.cn/beijing/society/2010-11/588290.html.
External links
- Official PFLAG website
- International PFLAG Groups[dead link]
- USA PFLAG Groups[dead link]
- Stay Close campaign website[dead link]
- Families Joined by Love[dead link] - Books and resources for LGBT Families.
PFLAG-like organizations around the world :
North America
Europe
- PFLAG UK (United Kingdom)
- FFLAG (United Kingdom)
- CONTACT (France)
- TelsQuels Parents (Belgium)
- BEFAH (Germany)
- TEHILA (Hebrew: תהל"ה) (Israel)
- AGEDO (Italia)
- FELS (Switzerland)
- AMPGIL (Spain)
- EuroFLAG (Europe-wide)
Asia, Africa and Oceania
- PFLAG VIETNAM (Vietnamese)
- PFLAG China
- LOOK (Ireland)
- SAFE (Singapore)
- PFLAG Brisbane (recipient of prize-money) website
- PFLAG Australia
- PFLAG South Africa
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