PFLAG Blog

Looking for ways to keep the conversation going about LGBTQ issues with your ERG, community group, or PFLAG chapter? Welcome to Something to Talk About, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality^TM program to create conversation about...

Welcome to Talking Inclusively, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about intersectionality, LGBTQ issues, inclusion and more! Each month we’ll offer an article on diverse topics and suggest a few...

Between the Shades seeks to put faces to the letters that make up LGBTQ+ and how those letters have evolved and expanded since the Stonewall riots.  The film examines the immense power of labels and the transcendence of love.

No...

Workshop proposals for We Are the Change: The 2019 PFLAG National Convention in Kansas City, MO in October 2019 are now being accepted! PFLAG chapter leaders, members, supporters and equality advocates from across the country will join together at the Kansas City Marriott...

Welcome to Talking Inclusively, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about intersectionality, LGBTQ issues, inclusion and more! Each month we’ll offer an article on diverse topics and suggest a few questions that you...

Each November 20th, PFLAG joins in honoring the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which was inspired by the 1998 murder of Rita Hester. TDOR marks a day when communities around the globe commemorate trans people who died...

Welcome to Talking Inclusively, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about intersectionality, LGBTQ issues, inclusion and more! Each month we’ll offer an article on diverse topics and suggest a few questions that you...

Meet a king about to lose his throne, a queen about to lose her inhibitions, and two princesses about to find love. If ever there was a PFLAG fairy tale, this would be it. We’re talking about Head Over Heels,...

Welcome to Talking Inclusively, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about intersectionality, LGBTQ issues, inclusion and more! Each month we’ll offer an article on diverse topics and suggest a few questions that you can...

The intersection of sexuality, gender identity, and race is the focus of this work for many PFLAG chapters, and one chapter—PFLAG San Antonio—launched themselves into the center of opportunity by supporting and participating in the 109th NAACP Convention earlier this month.

This summer, we have three college students joining our team as interns. Hailing from Florida, Kentucky, and North Carolina to spend their summer with PFLAG National, we could not be more excited to have their unique identities, experiences, and viewpoints in...

“When the shooting at Pulse happened, I was really disturbed by seeing how the narrative was quickly becoming one about so-called Islamic terrorism and really sort of skipping over the very Christian and very homophobic environment of Florida,”

Above is...

Welcome to Talking Inclusively, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about intersectionality, LGBTQ issues, inclusion and more! Each month we’ll offer an article on diverse topics and suggest a few questions that you can...

In many ways, Love, Simon is a typical teen romance. Teen has normal family life--parents (still married, so maybe not THAT normal), a sibling, a group of fun and funny friends, the usual trials and tribulations--and then falls for another teen...

Welcome to Talking Inclusively, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about intersectionality, LGBTQ issues, inclusion and more! Each month we’ll offer an article on diverse topics and suggest a few questions that you...

For those who haven’t heard about it, Call Me By Your Name is taking the country--and possibly the Oscars--by storm. The visuals are lush, the love story moving and tender, but most moving of all? The PFLAG parents supporting the...

2017 has been, arguably, a year of extremes: Extreme backlash, extreme advocacy and activism...and extreme passion for causes that affect the lives of so many. Let's take a look at our Top 10 Best and Worst moments from throughout the...

Thanksgiving—with chosen family and friends— is a fantastic time to reflect on what we’re thankful for in our lives. After a difficult year, it is especially important to focus on the good in our lives. This year the Learning &...

Were you in Portland? Then you know what an incredible weekend we had at We Are the Change 2017. Did you miss it? Then we know this look will inspire you to join us in 2019!

ANDI MACK, an immensely popular show on the Disney Channel, has its season two premiere this Friday night (8pm ET/PT)...and is a ground-breaking episode: One of the lead characters begins a coming-out process that will continue throughout the season. 

If...

I was really fortunate to come into national LGBTQ work as the Bi movement was exploding. 

Some of my first friendships in my now 30-year life in DC were with intrepid Bi activists. I watched Bi leaders fight for inclusion...

As we shared in the last edition of the PFLAG Voice, we have updated One Voice Can Change The World: The PFLAG National Advocacy Guide and Toolkit, our comprehensive guide and toolkit on policy, advocacy, and lobbying. The new...

With growing opposition and resistance to the current political realities in the US there have been new, inspiring examples of the impact that allies can have when they’re visible, vocal, and present. And that has the Straight for Equality team...

Answers to some common questions about the PFLAG staff restructure.

As summer begins in earnest and temperatures rise, is anyone else feeling just a little burnt out? The Straight for Equality team is feeling it for sure, and so this month, we’re calling on you to step back, take a...

This is the fourth of five letters we'll be sharing this week as part of our work with The Rainbow Letters, an initiative to generate healing and empathy around the topic of LGBTQ family through the art of letter-writing. Originally designed to increase visibility for children and adults with LGBTQ parents, The Rainbow Letters is now expanding its audience and calling for letters written by anyone who is or has family members who are LGBTQ. We look forward to sharing one letter with you each day this week!

This is the second of five letters we'll be sharing this week as part of our work with The Rainbow Letters, an initiative to generate healing and empathy around the topic of LGBTQ family through the art of letter-writing....

In 2014, PFLAG members across the country voted to lose "Parent, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays" as the official name of the organization in favor of just, simply, PFLAG. No acronym, but a name for an organization with...

Last weekend marked an important anniversary: on June 24th, it was eleven years since the passing of Richard Weiland (1953-2006).

If you’re not familiar with Ric’s name, you’re not alone—even in his hometown of Seattle, many do not know the...

When a loved one comes out, reactions vary, from “Now that I know, what can I do to support my child?” to “How will I ever handle this?” For some people, it’s a combination of these two reactions…and more. There...

Looking for ways to keep the conversation going about LGBTQ issues with your ERG, community group, or PFLAG chapter? Welcome to Something to Talk About, a monthly series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to...

You may have seen an item in Friday’s Policy Matters about HBO’s Vice News Tonight. Now, we have a sneak peek to share with you!

As previously published, on Friday, March 3rd, HBO will air a piece on transgender kids....

March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate and elevate the contributions and accomplishments of women in all their diverse representations, now and throughout history.

Women’s History Month was first celebrated with a week, not a month, in 1981....

We need to share some disturbing news: There is a real possibility that the life-saving Title IX nondiscrimination guidance to protect transgender students might be rescinded.

We have neither commented on nor responded to rumors in the past month, but...

Were you one of the thousands of people who signed up to join the PFLAG National Rapid Response Team last week? If not, now is definitely the time.

PFLAGers know that legislators listen most closely to those within their zip...

Longtime PFLAG member, chapter leader, and former national board member Dr. Kay Heggestad, passed away on Friday, January 13, 2017. Within just a few short days, her self-penned obituary--followed up with further details from her family (a “minority report” obituary)...

Welcome to 2017.

There’s no introduction that can be written that will adequately capture the mass of emotions that are bringing us into the New Year, so we aren’t going to spend time discussing it.

But here’s what we, as...

Coming off of the incredible high of winning marriage equality in 2015, 2016 at times felt like a year of bitter bills and backlash. But let’s all remember that there were some incredible wins for the PFLAG family in the...

We are so proud to share that we shattered our previous #GivingTuesday record, receiving nearly $37,000 in donations to support our 400-chapter grassroots network; educate families, schools, colleagues, and communities; and advocate for full legislative LGBTQ equality! Thanks to all...

It has been a difficult day for so many of us.

And before we say anything else, we must say this, regardless of what has happened:

You are loved. You are valued. And PFLAG is here.

The election results have...

With just about three weeks until Thanksgiving, people are gearing up for holiday cooking, shopping, and, of course, visits with family. And while the “visits with family” can create anxiety for many people, for our LGBTQ friends and family, the...

By now, we hope you’ve taken a look at--and tour of--the new PFLAG National website. This beautiful new resource for PFLAG members and supporters launched earlier this year, and we couldn’t be more proud to share it with all of you as you continue providing peer-to-peer support, educating around issues of fairness and inclusion, and advocating for legislative equality.

August 26th is Women’s Equality Day, a day honoring women’s right to vote in the U.S. and a good opportunity to highlight issues surrounding LGBTQ women’s equality in the U.S. and around the globe.

In our most recent edition of the PFLAGPole (Winter 2016), we were excited to highlight some of the LGBTQ and ally youth who received scholarships from PFLAG National and our funding partners, including Dow (GLAD)...

PFLAG National Statement on FDA Final Rule on Blood Donation Deferral Policy regarding Gay and Bisexual Men and Transgender People (issued on Dec. 21, 2015)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 21, 2015
Contact: Elizabeth Kohm, Interim Executive Director, PFLAG National |...

PFLAG National Executive Director Jody M. Huckaby has issued the following statement regarding the important new report, released this morning by SAMHSA, on the harms of so-called "reparative therapy:

"PFLAG's concern for LGBTQ youth is at the heart of...

PFLAG National—the nation's largest organization of parents, families, and allies united with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ)—announced today at its annual membership meeting the election of Jean Hodges of Boulder, Colorado, as its new board president. She...