PFLAG National

PFLAG’s theory of change posits that if more people understand LGBTQ+ inclusion and fully affirm their LGBTQ+ family members, friends, and co-workers, then equality for LGBTQ+ people will improve. A study from the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University confirms that "Family acceptance predicts greater self-esteem, social support, and general health status; it also protects against depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation and behaviors.” With nearly nine-in-ten people claiming that they personally know someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, PFLAG has a goal of expanding the conversation by inviting, educating and engaging new people in this conversation about how LGBTQ+ equality impacts and improves life for all.

Since 1973, PFLAG has played a unique role in the equality movement, fueled by the powerful combination of family and ally voices, joined with LGBTQ+ voices, to call for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people both legally and culturally.

PFLAG envisions a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Our mission is to build on a foundation of loving families united with LGBTQ+ people and allies who support one another, and to educate ourselves and our communities to speak up as advocates until all hearts and minds respect, value and affirm LGBTQ+ people.

The strategies PFLAG National employs to achieve these goals fall into three areas of activities: support, education, and advocacy.

Support: PFLAG National develops and helps grow nearly 400 local chapters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These peer-to-peer support groups provide resources for LGBTQ+ people who are coming out, family members who want to support a loved one coming out, and allies who want to support their LGBTQ+ friends or coworkers. PFLAG National provides a variety of support services to its chapters, including assisting in the establishment of new chapters; training leaders in person at regional and state events and through educational webinars through the PFLAG Academy Online program; and providing one-on-one assistance by phone and online with chapter onboarding, membership growth, and chapter challenges. With bullying and hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people on the rise, and an increase in LGBTQ+ youth suicide and homelessness, PFLAG's resources in support of family acceptance and allyship help save lives.

Education: Greater access to education increases LGBTQ+ acceptance and awareness of the discrimination LGBTQ+ people face. Communities nearly void of resources for LGBTQ+ people and their families and allies seek PFLAG National’s educational publications such as guide to being a trans ally, Faith in Our Families, and Cultivating Respect, among others. PFLAG’s education sessions and publications through its program, Straight for Equality, and webinar program, PFLAG Academy Online, are continuously evolving, taking into account the latest research, the changing landscape of legal protections for LGBTQ+ employees and their families, and the emerging best practices in the workplace.

Straight for Equality in the Workplace offers more than fifteen workplace education courses at beginner and advanced levels that engage and cultivate allies, as well as those that focus on transgender and gender identity equality. The program provides a wide-ranging perspective on LGBTQ+-ally workplace equality, improves the workplace climate, has a positive effect on workplace effectiveness, and deepens internal working relationships with national partners.

Advocacy: Full legal protections against discrimination and harassment are needed so that people who are LGBTQ+ are safe and equal in their communities. PFLAG National advocates at the local, state, and federal levels to achieve equality through changing hearts, minds, and laws. PFLAG National helps draft legislation, mobilize constituents, and provides testimony in support of legislation. PFLAG serves in numerous national coalitions and holds leadership roles in others, including the Every Child Deserves a Family Coalition and the Equality Act Coalition. PFLAG also develops policy guides and advocacy toolkits to support the advocacy work of PFLAGers everywhere.

PFLAG National employs 20 full-time staffers in Washington, DC, Portland, OR, and the Los Angeles, CA, area with a collective 40+ years of expertise in education, advocacy, communications, development, and management. PFLAG National is governed by a 20-member Board of Directors, responsible for setting PFLAG’s strategic vision, and organized by thirteen regions led by a volunteer Regional Director, who assists in all aspects of chapter development. With over 250,000 members and supporters across the United States and over 400 chapters in nearly all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, PFLAG is the nation’s largest family and ally organization with a history of wins in the fight for equality. PFLAG National works and partners with nearly 100 major corporations every year to support increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. PFLAG National also partners with national and local nonprofits such as Advocates for Youth, GLSEN, Gender Spectrum, NAACP, National Center for Transgender Equality, Trevor Project, and more on various projects to achieve common goals.

In the course of its over 48-year history, PFLAG has transformed values and practices for raising LGBTQ+ children. In 1973, the year the organization was founded, disownment of LGBTQ+ people was commonplace, parents regularly subjected their children to therapies that included electroshock and so-called “religious treatments,” and schools expelled and punished LGBTQ+ students as they experienced bullying, discrimination, and harassment.

Today, the gold standard advocated by PFLAG parents and families, and set forth by pediatricians and therapists, is to affirm and support LGBTQ+ people’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression. We continue to build on our success at the local and state level to end discredited “conversion” therapies. School systems are following PFLAG best practices for serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-binary students, and often engaging PFLAG chapters to provide training for teachers, administrators, and district leaders.

PFLAG has played a critical role in achieving marriage equality, providing critical leverage for local, state, and national wins on marriage, including a friend-of-the-court brief to the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case that won the nationwide freedom to marry. Attempts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people n 2018, PFLAG parent Debra Munn and her son Charlie took their case all the way to the Supreme Court in Charlie Craig v. Masterpiece Cakeshop; on the steps of the Supreme Court, Debra said, “PFLAG saved our family 15 years ago. We wouldn’t be here without you.”

Our next step is to ensure passage of the Equality Act, a federal bill that will add LGBTQ+ people to existing civil rights laws and will strengthen protections for all people. So far, PFLAG National has helped lead the way to passage of this legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Equality Act would provide clear, consistent protections nationwide in employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service. PFLAG National has developed resources for chapters and individuals to advocate for the Equality Act in their communities, and will continue to uplift the voices of parents, families, and allies in the conversation on full equality.