PFLAG Formally Includes TG Persons
By Loree Cook-Daniels
September 28, 1998
Three years' worth of organizing and advocacy paid off September 12, 1998,
when the annual meeting of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and
Gays (PFLAG) overwhelmingly agreed to
amend its mission statement to include transgendered persons.
The new PFLAG mission reads:
To promote the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered persons, their families and friends through: support, to
cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed
public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil
rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides
opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and
acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human
diversity.
Although the official PFLAG newsletter, PFLAGpole, that came out prior to
the vote carefully matched a statement in support of the change with a
statement opposing inclusion, not one of the more than a dozen people who
spoke on the matter at the annual meeting spoke against the amendment.
Several chapters sent letters and even a petition in support of inclusion.
Ultimately, the final vote tally showed only one "no" vote.
This overwhelming support can be traced in great measure to the organizing
efforts of PFLAG's Transgender Special Outreach Network (also known as
T-SON), a group of family members of transgendered persons and
transgendered persons. Founded three years ago at a PFLAG conference,
T-SON has: sponsored a very successful email support list for family
members of transgendered persons and transgendered persons concerned about
family issues; initiated a second email support list specifically for
parents of minor children who are transgendered; recruited and supported
more than 170 PFLAG transgender chapter coordinators; produced and
distributed more than 12,000 copies of the brochure "Our Trans Children";
run a national helpline; sponsored many Trans 101 workshops at local,
regional, and national PFLAG (and other organizations') meetings and
conferences; helped organize and support at least a half-dozen
"Trans-Family" support groups throughout the U.S.; sponsored a website;
and held a national conference in conjunction with PFLAG's annual meeting
September 11-13.
This T-SON conference featured workshops on the "gender spectrum"; gender
variant children and Gender Identity Disorder (GID); and providing
transgender support in the PFLAG context. It also included: a very
productive and upbeat meeting with PFLAG's new Executive Director, Kirsten
Kingdon, and PFLAG staff about ways to further implement PFLAG's
newly-articulated commitment to transgendered persons and issues; a
ground-breaking meeting with intersex advocates to explore ways of
providing support to the family members of intersexed persons; and a
meeting with Bay Area-based advocates and therapists to articulate and
strategize ways to support gender variant children and their parents.
For more information about T-SON's activities, see the website http://www.critpath.org/pflag-talk/ or
http://www.youth-guard.org/pflag-t-son. To subscribe to the T-SON email list, send the message "subscribe tgs- pflag youremailaddress" to listproc@youth-guard.org. Copies of "Our Trans Children" are 3 for $2.00 and can be ordered from Mary Boenke, 180 Bailey Blvd., Hardy, VA 24101-3528. Mary can also be reached by email: MaryBoenke@aol.com.
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