PFLAG celebrating 50th anniversary

PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

For 50 years, this national organization has been advocating for the LGBTQ+ community.

The Mt. Pleasant PFLAG chapter was organized in 2019 as a response to a need in the community for advocacy.

With the growing attempts to pass laws which discriminate against the LGBTQ+ population, the need for this advocacy remains vital.

PFLAG was initiated by Jeanne Manford, an elementary teacher in New York, who wanted to support her grown son, Morty.

She marched beside her son in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March in New York City on June 25, 1972.

In a letter to the editor to the New York Post, April, 29, 1972, Ms. Manford wrote about gay activism, “It is a fight for recognition such as all minority groups must wage and needs support from outsiders as well as participants in the movement.”

The idea was born for families and friends to organize to actively support their loved ones.

PFLAG’s mission is, “To create a caring, just, and affirming world for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them.”

The vision is, “An equitable, inclusive world where every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, empowered, and loved.”

LGBTQ+ is the contemporary acronym and umbrella term to include a diverse group of people who identify along the spectrum of gender and sexual identity (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual).

The Mt. Pleasant PFLAG Chapter holds educational events, joins in Lobby Day at the Iowa State Capitol, sponsors a monthly book club, provides books and materials for those who want to learn more, coordinates with the Iowa Wesleyan University GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance), and offers a support group for LGBTQ+ families.

“It has been exciting to see the PFLAG Mt. Pleasant chapter come to fruition over the past few years,” Mt. Pleasant PFLAG President Katie Aranda said about her involvement with PFLAG. “Our group includes allies, parents, and members of the LGBTQ+ community all from within the Mt. Pleasant area with the same common goal of making our town a welcoming, safe, and inclusive place to call home.”

For more information, contact pflagmountpleasant@gmail.com or like the chapter’s Facebook page, PFLAG Mt. Pleasant.

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