When “Dear Abby” mentioned PFLAG in one of her advice columns, we received more than 7,000 letters requesting information. Following the 1979 National March for Gay and Lesbian Rights, representatives from these groups met for the first time in Washington, DC.īy 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. 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. The first formal meeting took place on Maat the Metropolitan-Duane Methodist Church in Greenwich Village (now the Church of the Village).
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. The idea for PFLAG began in 1972 when Jeanne Manford marched alongside her gay son, Morty, in New York's Christopher Street Liberation Day March, the precursor to today's Pride parade.
