PFLAG Kicks Off 50 Years of Leading With Love

WASHINGTON (Feb. 2)—This March marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of PFLAG, the premier parent, family, and ally organization of the LGBTQ+ movement. In celebration of this historic anniversary, the iconic organization has launched a new, bold, vibrant look to reflect the courageous love that has driven PFLAG’s every action since 1973.

“For 50 years, when parents like me—people who love our children—have navigated a journey to support them as LGBTQ+ people, we have found help and support in PFLAG,” said Susan Thronson, PFLAG National Board President. “PFLAG has been together with the LGBTQ+ community we serve, at kitchen tables and the President’s desk, to help make historic progress toward an equitable and inclusive world for LGBTQ+ people. PFLAG continues the work to grow and maintain these gains by leading with love, just as we have since 1973.”

In moments when it has been socially and politically unpopular, and even unsafe, to show support for LGBTQ+ people, PFLAG families and allies have shared the stories of their love to soften hearts and change minds.

In the 1970s, PFLAG’s founding mother and son broke convention by marching together in protest for rights for LGBTQ+ people.  In the 1980s, PFLAG parents appealed to lawmakers and their spouses as fellow parents to help turn the tide of the AIDS epidemic. When it was still the “gay rights movement,” PFLAG was the first LGBTQ+ organization to include and center transgender people in the fight for justice. It was a PFLAG family who fought for and won Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students in the 1990s. And in 2022, when the governor of Texas threatened families who affirmed their transgender kids, the unified families of PFLAG took that governor to court.

PFLAG enters its golden anniversary year at a time when major media outlets and elected officials are once again giving a platform to politically motivated agendas intended to harm LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender youth and their families. Brian Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National said, “We knew we had to celebrate 50 by unequivocally reaffirming PFLAG as a dynamic and unifying force that will not back down to threats against LGBTQ+ people and our loved ones. PFLAG’s new look asserts that this iconic organization will not stop until every LGBTQ+ person has the freedom to thrive—and we’ll do it by leading with love.”

To develop the new look and feel, PFLAG worked with creative design firm Teal Media, based in Washington, D.C. “We are very proud to work with PFLAG and are excited to deliver an updated look and message that embraces PFLAG’s iconic legacy,” said CEO Jessica Teal.

“Our new logo puts love at the heart of PFLAG, as it always has been. It is confident and proud, and embraces our legacy of inclusion by asserting PFLAG as a single word that cannot be broken apart,” said Liz Owen, PFLAG National’s Communications Director. “We also were intentional in our color palette, because in the LGBTQ+ movement, colors have meaning. PFLAG’s color palette draws inspiration from this history to signal growth and evolution, to embrace our legacy, and to reflect spirit, life, energy, empowerment, and unity. At the same time, our colors are fresh and sophisticated to meet a 21st century moment.”

PFLAG has begun rolling out its new brand identity to hundreds of chapters nationwide, and has launched new websites at PFLAG.org and StraightForEquality.org.  More announcements about PFLAG’s 50th anniversary celebrations and programming will be made in the coming days and throughout this golden anniversary year.

“In 2023, there continues to be a need for PFLAG—for LGBTQ+ people, parents, families and allies to work together, to hold officials accountable, and to lead with love. As we begin the next 50 years, PFLAG remains as vibrant and committed to this work as we were on day one, and we will be here for as long as it takes for every LGBTQ+ person to be safe, celebrated, empowered and loved, ” said Bond.