Articles From Our January, 2002 Newsletter

Please join us on Sunday, January 13th at 3pm to hear what should be a fascinating program brought to us from a teen's perspective on issues concerning us all.

From all of us to all of you. May the New Year bring you joy, happiness, good health, and may we see the year of 2002 be the year of attaining all the good things we wish for our GLBT children.

From Our President

During the past few months the financial condition of the national PFLAG organization has become critical. PFLAG did not meet its income projections this past fiscal year and despite keeping expenses under budget, the year ended in a loss. Since then income has dropped significantly due to several factors:

• the economic downturn and uncertainty about the future
• diversion of donations towards disaster relief
• disruption of the D.C. postal service due to anthrax contamination. All of PFLAG's mail, including contributions, comes through the Brentwood post office, where two postal workers died of anthrax inhalation.

As a result of the revenue downturn, six staff positions at the national office have been eliminated. Salary reductions have been accepted by staff members.

The national staff continues to be necessary to the work we do locally. It provides:

• membership data
• phone and e-mail support
• publications
• weekly e-mail alert
• listserves
• the national conference
• campaigns and programs
• tracking national legislation and action alerts
• grant programs.

On November 15 I visited the PFLAG national office in downtown Washington, D.C. while visiting my son. Staff members were warmly welcoming and I am impressed with how committed and how hard-working they are. During my visit I presented a check for $500 to the national office on behalf of the Board of PFLAG-Kansas City. The national office needs our support. They appreciate all the assistance that we are able to provide. Please e-mail Kirsten Kingdon, Executive Director of PFLAG at: kkingdon@pflag.org and find out how to help or send checks, made out to PFLAG, to our local post office mail box (P.O.Box 414101, Kansas City, MO 64141) and we will forward the money to the national office.

Thank you for you support in this crucial time.

Helen Cohen

HELP, HELP

As we plan programs for the new year, the Board greatly appreciates input from members and friends about programs you would like. Please e-mail us with suggestions for program topics and discussion questions. What would you like to see discussed at PFLAG meetings? Also we do need a program director. So someone out there, please let us know that you want to be on the Board (a fun experience)

PFLAG NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The PFLAG national conference will be held September 27 - 29, 2002 in Columbus, Ohio. There are chapter funds available to help those who want to attend with financial assistance for travel and registration. Please e-mail PFLAG-KC if you would like to attend. It's a wonderful, exciting experience. The conference will bring together more than 1,000 GLBT people, their parents, families and friends for a time of learning, celebration and fun. 
We are excited to join forces for this conference with Family Pride and COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere), two of our closest allies who will bring a large number of GLBT parents and their children. 

Red Kettle Protest Update

To all of you dropping a note into the red kettle -- your message is being heard. We have received many e-mails of support and PFLAG has been in papers and on the airwaves across the country. Many of you have compiled local lists of non-discriminatory alternative charities serving the poor and have donated to them. Please keep us informed of your local actions, concerns, responses from the Salvation Army, etc. We have opened up a national conversation with the Salvation Army and want you to know that your voices have been heard at the highest levels there.

A NEW YEAR GIFT IDEA!!

PFLAG Takes Care of your Holiday Shopping List!
In this season of giving, PFLAG is proud to announce our new Gift Certificate program. Through this new program, we're making it easier for you to give the gift of a PFLAG membership to that family member or friend that you always wanted to join you as a PFLAG member. Each gift certificate is good for one full year of membership in National PFLAG.
When you order your gift certificates, we'll send you an official membership certificate that you can personally give to your chosen recipients. They'll send us their membership information, but keep the certificate and other PFLAG goodies. Go to www.pflag.org for more details.

Resolutions for a Changed America

By Elizabeth Birch and Candace Gingrich

As 2001 draws to a close, America's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community can look back on many significant gains. A marked increase in the number of employers offering domestic partner benefits. Rhode Island's addition of gender identity to its non-discrimination law - and the happy end to a lawsuit challenging Maryland's non-discrimination law. Hawaii's and Texas' passing hate crimes laws that cover sexual orientation. The successes were myriad and heartening.

But the GLBT community - along with the entire country - will forever remember this year for the Sept. 11 attacks and the terrible results that are still being played out in the world. 

One of the many lessons America learned from Sept. 11 is that there were GLBT victims and heroes, with names and faces and ordinary life histories. Because so many in our community are now committed to living honestly, we had the privilege to learn about these brothers and sisters now that they are gone. Like many of those who died, they also left behind grieving partners, children, houses with mortgages, unpaid car loans, monthly bills - the same sad remnants of so many of the lives stolen by the terrorists.

One key difference for the survivors in our community, however, has been their inability to rely on the same safety net that has caught other surviving families. Because our laws and society don't recognize our relationships and our families, survivors from the GLBT community have had to fight for relief funds from the federal government and from some state and private agencies. They will never get the same Social Security and pension benefits other surviving families have received and have taken for granted as their due. And if these GLBT families never put their legal houses in order, the survivors now face losing their homes, their children, their health insurance - their basic security.

The events of Sept. 11 made clear the power of living outside the closet. They also made clear how vulnerable the GLBT community remains. 

As we look to 2002, remember that New Year's resolutions aren't all about quitting smoking or losing a few pounds. They can also be about taking the time to thank those who deserve it, protecting our loved ones and working to make a safer and more accepting world for generations to come. 
(Excerpted from The Human Rights Campaign web site)
(for the whole article, see www.hrc.org)

PFLAG SUPPORTS REAL FAMILY VALUES