The Program for April

Here's some info about the groups that will be hosting a discussion at April's general meeting.

Married Women in Transition is a support group for women who are married to men and are questioning their sexual orientation. This group is facilitated by Elaine Meizlish MSW, LSCSW and has been in existence for over 3 years.

Elaine originally started this group through the Kansas City Lesbian Gay Community Center as a free group and after the Center closed she moved the group to the LGBT Resource Center at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). She continues to volunteer her time to do this group and it is free of charge for the women who attend. The group meets the first Saturday of the month and usually has 6-12 women attend. Women who come to this group are from the Kansas City area as well as other cities such as Topeka and Springfield, MO.

Healthy Transitions is a support group for men who are married and at risk due to having sex with men. It was started about 8 1/2 years ago by Alex Westerfeld, Ph.D., and then Jason Carrigan, MA, LPC assumed the facilitation of the group 3 1/2 years ago when Dr. Westerfeld moved out of state.

The group is one of several prevention outreaches through Healthy Living Project, and is located in Johnson County. It meets twice monthly; attendance varies from 2 -12, spiritual issues, self-esteem, recovery from shame, bringing authenticity and honesty back into relationships, processing issues of adjustment to new community venues and norms, substance abuse, dissemination of information about risk, strategies for reducing risk, and negotiating all this in the context of new relationships."

http://www.healthylivingprojects.org/

New LGBT Group Highlighted on Fox 4 News

A series of suicides last year by young gays in the U.S. sparked a call to action to address bullying and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender teens and young adults. Here in Kansas City, that call to action has resulted in the formation of a new youth leadership group, KC Love.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh6zic_metro-teens-have-courage-to-rise-up-and-speak-out_news

What's New

We've updated our weblog with a more modern theme and PFLAG-KC is now also on Facebook and Twitter.

PFLAG-KC on Facebook

PFLAG-KC on Twitter

It Gets Better

Several LGBT White House staffers share their messages of hope and support for LGBT youth who are struggling with being bullied.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010/12/20/white-house-staff-it-gets-better

No Parade This Year Due To the Change Of Venue

According to the Kansas City Star the LGBT pride parade has been canceled this year due to the last minute change of the pride festival's location from Penn Valley Park to Berkley Riverfront Park.

Here's the website for the Show Me Pride Festival.

A Short History of PFLAG

Here's a short history of PFLAG from Brooke Smith.

The idea for PFLAG began in 1972 when Jeanne Manford marched with her gay son in New York's Pride Day parade. After many gay and lesbian people ran up to Jeanne during the parade and begged her to talk to their parents, she decided to begin a support group. In the next years, through word of mouth and community need, similar groups sprang up around the country, offering "safe havens" and mutual support for parents with gay and lesbian children. Following the 1979 National March for Gay and Lesbian Rights, representatives from these groups met for the first time in Washington, DC.

By 1980, PFLAG, then known as Parents FLAG, began to distribute information to educational institutions and communities of faith nationwide, establishing itself as a source of information for the general public. When "Dear Abby" mentioned PFLAG in one of her advice columns, we received more than 7,000 letters requesting information. In 1981, members decided to launch a national organization. The first PFLAG office was established in Los Angeles under founding president Adele Starr. In 1982, the Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc., then representing some 20 groups, was incorporated in California and granted non-profit, tax-exempt status. In 1987, PFLAG relocated to Denver, under President Ellinor Lewallen. Also in the 1980's, PFLAG became involved in opposing Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade and worked to end the U.S. military's efforts to discharge lesbians-more than a decade before military issues came to the forefront of the GLBT movement. And by the late 1980's, PFLAG began to have notable success in organizing chapters in rural communities.

In 1990, following a period of significant growth, PFLAG employed an Executive Director, expanded its staff, and moved to Washington, DC. In the early 1990s, PFLAG chapters in Massachusetts helped pass the first Safe Schools legislation in the country. In 1993, PFLAG added the word "Families" to the name, and added bisexual people to its mission and work. By the mid-1990s a PFLAG family was responsible for the Department of Education's ruling that Title 9 also protected gay and lesbian students from harassment based on sexual orientation. PFLAG put the Religious Right on the defensive, when Pat Robertson threatened to sue any station that carried the Project Open Mind advertisements. The resulting media coverage drew national attention to our message linking hate speech with hate crimes and GLBT teen suicide. In 1998, PFLAG became the first national LGBT organization to add transgender people to its mission. At the turn of the century, PFLAG began to develop nationally coordinated programs such as Safe Schools for All, the Scholarship Program, the Diversity Network, Bringing the Message Home, and Welcoming Faith Communities.

Thank you!

Brooke

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