PFLAG maps ambitious plan at Midwest conference

PFLAG maps ambitious plan at Midwest conference
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
November 9, 2006



At the Midwest regional conference of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Nov. 3-4 in Chicago, several hundred people heard an upbeat message and got tips and tools to help them move the organization—and GLBT equality—forward in the next few years.

“We are the only national (GLBT advocacy) organization that’s grassroots, that’s community-based, that’s volunteer-driven,” said PFLAG Executive Director Jody Huckaby. “It’s been a very busy and productive year, and I truly believe the best is yet to come.”

The conference was themed “Heartland in Action,” and attendees had a full slate of workshops and panels aimed at helping them grow local PFLAG chapters, lobby lawmakers and voters and persuade more people, particularly straight people, to vocally support GLBT equal rights.

“We are chapter-based and we are truly grassroots,” outgoing national PFLAG President Sam Thoron said. “What that means is where we change hearts and minds is in the 500 cities and towns where we have chapters.”

Thoron told attendees PFLAG’s greatest organizing weapon is its membership. The more visible and vocal they are, he said, the more PFLAG can advance the cause of equality for GLBTs.

“We need to tell our stories,” Thoron said. “Our stories—our experiences and our personal truth—is our strongest tool in our mission to change the world. ÉA story that is not told changes nothing.”

Thoron said he was pleased with the growth of PFLAG and the direction the organization has taken in the past four years.

“I think there’s been enormous growth in our sense of purpose,” Thoron said. “Our leadership and our staff at our national office are as strong as I have ever seen them.”

Thoron’s successor as president of PFLAG’s national board, Chicagoan John Cepek, said the group is launching an ambitious five-year plan, Straight for Equality, to enlist millions of straight allies to advocate for equal rights for GLBTs in the United States.

“We’re looking for any good people, not just membersÉbut people who, just on principle, believe that this country should provide fairness and equality for everyone.”

Cepek said the plan was inspired by the ideas of Ian Ayres and Jennifer Gerarda Brown, authors of the recent book “Straightforward: How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights.” Ayres and Brown also conducted a workshop detailing their suggestions at the conference.

Cepek said it’s obvious there are large numbers of straight people who support equal rights for GLBTs, but rarely, if ever, speak out about the issue.

“They don’t necessarily talk to their congressmen, they don’t speak up in their churches, they don’t go to school board meetings,” Cepek said. “We aim to get them to do that. If we can get them to do that, we can accelerate this movement. ÉWe’re literally going to give them concrete ways they can help.”

Cepek made it clear that PFLAG is aiming high.

“Ultimately we want a cultural shift in this country so that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is viewed as equally valid as being straight,” Cepek said.