PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara

Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies United with LGBTQ People

PO Box 617
Buffalo, NY 14207
716-883-0384

info@pflagbuffalo.org
www.pflagbuffalo.org
www.facebook.com/pflag.niagara

Next Sharing Meeting

August 21, 2016
2:30-5:00

The sharing meetings are held at Kenilworth United Churc h of Christ, 45 Dalton Drive, Tonawanda 14223,
from 2:30-5:00. Newcomers and anyone interested will be offered the option of meeting privately with a PFLAG
parent. Our monthly meetings are in the library, which is near the parking lot entrance. The facility is
handicapped accessible. New Parents Meetings are scheduled as needed at a location convenient to those
involved. These self-help one-on-one meetings deal with the concerns of parents and family members who
have recently learned that a loved one is gay.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

We meet because we have learned that someone very close to us is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender. We try to
help one another deal with this information in a positive manner. Although we do not agree at all times, we try to be
understanding. We offer help to those who seek it, but do not force ourselves on others. We strive to maintain anonymity
while sharing on a level that is comfortable for all of us.

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PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara

Once again we will be joining the National #GiveOUTDay fund raising

drive.
Please consider making your tax deductible donation to PFLAG
Buffalo-Niagara on August 2, 2016.
Your generosity allows us to continue our work educating and
changing perspective on LGBTQ issues, laws and our goal of equality.
#GiveOUTDay is the new national initiative to mobilize giving by
individuals on a single day across the country to the LGBTQ nonprofit
community.
Learn more at #GiveOUTDay FAQ or at www.pflagbuffalo.org.

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara

You can donate directly by following this link:

https://www.giveoutday.org/c/GO/a/pflagbuffalo/donate/
Be the change you wish to see!
Schedule your #GiveOUTDay donation NOW!

PFLAG BUFFALO/NIAGARA AWARDS ITS SCHOLARSHIPS TO SENIORS

PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara congratulates the two winners of this years scholarships.
Two $500.00 scholarships were awarded to high school seniors who demonstrated
dedication to PFLAGs mission in the past and a commitment to continue that dedication
in the future.
In each of the three years these awards have been given, the panel looks over
student essays and recommendations.
Students must be accepted into a college or university for the upcoming school year.
Each year the decisions is a difficult one. However, the panel was confident in the end
that the two winners were the strongest and most deserving. They shared experience,
struggles, and successes, their and those of loved ones; they showed their support of the
community and others, and, by example, showed they are young adults for others to
learn from and be inspired by.
This years college-bound winners were from Hamburg High School and Iroquois High
School. They are truly deserving and should take pride in the achievements and
eloquence.

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PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara

The students received these awards during June graduation and class day
ceremonies. PFLAG wishes both students well as they continue their education and
commitment to others.

HONORING THE MANFORDS, FOUNDERS OF PFLAG

By Liz Owen, PFLAG.org
The House of Representatives voted on--and passed--a bill introduced earlier this year by
NY Congressman Joe Crowley, which would designate the Jackson Heights, NY post office
as the Jeanne and Jules Manford Post Office Building.
The bill will soon be considered in the Senate. Rep. Crowley spoke beautifully about
our founder, especially in light of the recent tragedy and the lives taken in Orlando.
Read his statement below:

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Before I begin, I want to thank my colleagues, Ranking Member Lawrence and
Chairman Lummis of the Interior subcommittee, and Ranking Member Cummings and
Chairman Chaffetz of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for working to
bring this bill to the floor.
I am so pleased to have this chance to honor Jeanne and Jules Manford and their
history of community engagement by naming the Jackson Heights post office in my
district after them. I also want to thank Suzanne Swan, Jeanne and Juless daughter, and
PFLAG for collaborating with me on this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, the timing of this bills consideration could not be more opportune. It
comes in the wake of last Sundays terrible attack on the LGBT community in Orlando
an attack that was motivated by hate. And we stand here today to honor two individuals
who, when faced with a hateful act of violence themselves, were inspired to start a
movement couched in acceptance and support.
Jeanne and Jules Manford were your typical, middle-class New Yorkers who worked
hard to make a better life for themselves, their family, and their community. Jeanne was
a teacher at a public school in Flushing, Queens. Jules was a dentist. The couple worked
with a number of local community groups helping to make Queens a better place to live.
And they raised children, Suzanne and Morty, in whom they instilled the values of hard
work, compassion, and public service.
Morty was lucky to have two loving parents who accepted him for who he was at a
time when acceptance of LGBT people was unfortunately the exception rather than the
rule. While a
student at Columbia and Cordozo Law School and throughout his career, Morty stood up
for the rights of LGBT people, and, like his parents, sought to make life better for those
around him.
He was one of many present at the Stonewall riot in Greenwich Village in 1969 and
continued to organize protests in order to draw attention to issues affecting the LGBT
community. Following one of these protests, in April 1972, Morty was badly beaten. In a
trial

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PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara

following the beating, witnesses testified that they saw Morty thrown down an escalator,
and then kicked and stomped on. Thankfully, the injuries were not fatal, and Morty
recovered. But his parents, Jeanne and Jules, were galvanized to take their own actions
to counter hate and discrimination.
The following June in the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade, the predecessor
to New Yorks Pride parade, Jeanne carried a now-famous sign that read, Parents of
Gays Unite in Support for our Children. The image of Jeannes defiance and call to
action in the face of bigotry and violence became a celebrated artifact in the history of
the gay rights movement. It shows the face of a proud mother who refuses to accept
that her child should be mistreated because of who he is.
And more importantly, this picture, and that sign, document the inception of a new
approach to achieving equality an effort by parents and families to stand up for their
LGBT children. In that moment, now 44 years ago almost to the day, Jeanne embodied
the spirit that has now come to guide a national organization PFLAG. In the wake of
Morty Manfords harrowing beating, Jeanne and Jules realized that even as LGBT people
continued to fight for justice and acceptance, their work could be amplified through the
support of their allies. And who better to be an ally than ones own supportive family?
It was with this in mind that Jeanne and Jules founded an organization known as
Parents of Gays. With their spirit of community involvement, Jeanne and Jules wanted to
help others like them friends, neighbors, and colleagues to better understand and
support their LGBT children.
They held their first support group meeting in 1973 in the Church of the Village, a
uniquely accepting and progressive Methodist church in Greenwich Village that is still
active today. At a time when attitudes toward sexual orientation were only just beginning
to change, the founding of an organization designed to bring in, educate, and support
those closest to LGBT individuals their parents was critical in advancing acceptance
and equal rights.
Over the next few years, similar organizations were started around the country, and
their representatives were finally brought together following the 1979 National March on

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara
Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. A couple of years later, following important work
establishing themselves as a source for information and support, various chapters
decided to launch a national organization, called Parents and Families of Lesbians and
Gays, now known as PFLAG. And from there, the organizations efforts took off.
PFLAG began work on national policy issues, such as stopping the military from
discharging lesbian service-members. And it worked to help establish hundreds of
chapters in rural communities where LGBT individuals and their families had a more
difficult time finding and coordinating with others like them. Today, PFLAG counts over
400 chapters and more than 200,000 members in all 50 states. And similar organizations
have been established around the globe. Jeanne and Jules continued to work in their
community, helping to found a PFLAG chapter in Queens alongside LGBT activist Danny
Dromm, now a member of the New York City Council.
Jeanne went on to become an advocate for people with HIV and AIDS following
Mortys death from the disease in 1992 at the young age of 41. For her many years of
work in support of the LGBT community, Jeanne was honored as the first Grand Marshal
of the Queens Pride Parade, which began in 1993, the year after Mortys death. The
parade runs through the heart of my district in Queens, and passes a reviewing stand
situated directly in front of this post office in Jackson Heights.
In fact, the street corner next to this post office was itself renamed for someone we
lost to a senseless act of hate Julio Rivera, who was killed in 1990 at the age of 29,
targeted because he was gay. Jackson Heights is a thriving neighborhood with a growing
LGBT community, and our community will be honored to have our local post office bear
the names of Jeanne and Jules Manford. These symbols remind us how far weve come.
After Jules Manford passed away, Jeanne, having lost her husband and son,
eventually went to live with her daughter, Suzanne, in California. And in January of
2013, just a few months before the Supreme Courts landmark decision overturning the
Defense of Marriage Act, Jeanne passed away at the age of 92. That same year, Jeanne
was honored posthumously with the Presidential Citizens Medal for her efforts.

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PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara

It is difficult to imagine how we could have achieved so much progress toward

attaining more equal rights for LGBT Americans without the work of Jeanne and Jules
Manford more than 40 years ago. Though the LGBT community itself had already begun
to organize and demand
action, it was the Manfords work to bring families and allies into the fold that helped
push these issues to the fore. Many attribute the shift in public opinion on the issue of
marriage equality to the simple fact that gay and lesbian people are able to be more
open about who they are.
And as a result, more and more straight Americans know someone who is gay or
lesbian or bisexual or transgender, and want their friends and family to be treated
equally.
This is thanks in no small part to the supportive network of PFLAG and its chapters
throughout
the years, and to the movement by parents and family who proudly chose to love their
children for who they are.
So as we celebrate Pride Month, Im glad we have this opportunity to reflect upon
and honor those who helped get us to where we are today. And as we mourn in the wake
of the tragic shooting at the Pulse LGBT night club in Orlando last week, I hope we all
can emulate the way Jeanne and Jules Manford responded to their son Mortys beating.
The Manfords recognized that violent acts of hate dont show strength. Far from it
they show weaknesses in the soul of the offender. Instead of recoiling in fear, the
Manfords reacted with a sign of love, support and solidarity.
Ive been heartened to see millions of Americans do the same over the past week. It
has shown our strength as a society and as a nation in spite of an attack meant to shake
us.
So Im particularly glad we are able to consider this legislation today to honor Jeanne
and Jules Manford for all they have done for Queens and for America. And I look forward
to seeing colleaugues to support this become law. Thank you again for working to bring
this up for consideration today.

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara

FOLLOW UP AND TAKE ACTION

The above bill was approved by both houses. We pass on this request from
PFLAG National to thank those who made this memorial tribute possible.
Thank your Senators and Representative for approving the bill to designate the facility
of the United States Postal Service located at 7802 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, New
York, as the "Jeanne and Jules Manford Post Office Building.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Crowley (D-NY-14) in the House and by Sen. Gillibrand
(D-NY) and Sen. Schumer (D-NY) in the Senate, memorializes the wonderful hard work
that PFLAGs founder, Jeanne Manford, and her husband Jules did to create a more
inclusive and accepting world for their son and all other members of the LGBTQ
community. While we are far from finished, this victory reminds us how far we have come
towards an inclusive world thanks to the wonderful PFLAG community. Read Rep.
Crowleys beautiful speech about the Manfords here.
Find and reach your federal legislators, your two Senators and one Representative,
and consider using this suggested PFLAG message to say thank you:
As your constituent and as a member of PFLAG, I thank you for passing H.R. 2067
in the House by Rep. Crowley (D-NY-14) and S. 3071 in the Senate by Sen.
Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Schumer (D-NY), which together allow the work of
PFLAG founder, Jeanne Manford and her husband Jules, to be memorialized and
celebrated for all of the change it created. PFLAGs values are Americas values and

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that includes fighting for equality for all people, something that Jeanne and Jules
did so well. If you voted in favor of this bill, I especially thank you. If you did not, I
urge you to consider doing so in the future for other bills that strive to create a fair
and accepting world for families like mine.
Note: Please remember to specify your name, full address, and zip code. This allows your
legislator to record your communication, and to respond to you in your important
capacity as a constituent.

PFLAG BUFFALO-NIAGARA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Phil Salemi, Jr., President

Lisbeth Ball, Director

Amy Fularz, Vice President

David Barrett, Director

Brian Carrier, Treasurer

Sharon Barrett, Director

Michele Perry, Secretary

Ann Carrier, Director

Julie Christiano, Director

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara

PFLAG Buffalo-Niagara, is a non-profit, all volunteer, community-based

organization
not affiliated with any ethnic, religious, economic or political group.
Membership is open to all. PFLAG membership lists are kept confidential.