June PFLAG Newsletter

8/12/2019 June PFLAG Newsletter

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June 2014 PFLAG Buffalo Niagara

Buffalo / NiagaraPO Box 617

Buffalo, NY 14207

[email protected]

www.facebook.com/pflag.niagara

We meet because wehave learned thatsomeone ve ry c lose tous is Gay, Lesbian,Bisexu al , orTransgendered.

We t ry to h e lp oneanother deal with thisin forma t ion in apos it ive mann er.

A l t h o u g h w e d o n o tagree a t a l l t imes, wet ry to beunde r s tand ing .

We offe r he lp to thosewho s eek i t , bu t do no tforce our se lves on

others.

We str ive to mainta inanonymity wh i leshar ing o n a level thati s com for tab le fo r a ll o fus.

We encourage a l l toa t tend mee t ings fo rtheir own benef i t aswell as that of thegroup .

I t i s our hope tha t wheneach of us reaches apo in t o f und e r s tand ingand acceptance , werealize that this is wh enothe r s need us themost .

Monthly Meeting Schedule

Sunday, June 15, 20142:30-5:00

Kenilworth United Church of Christ45 Dalton Drive

Tonawanda, New York 14223

Please join us as we welcome families and friends to share their personalstories with us. As always, newcomers will be offered the alternative ofmeeting privately with a PFLAG parent.

Kenilworth United Church of Christ is located two blocks west of NiagaraFalls Boulevard at the corner of Decatur Rd and Dalton Dr. Decatur runsoff of Niagara Falls Boulevard about 0.8 miles south of Sheridan Drive andabout 0.8 miles north of Kenmore Ave.

Our monthly meetings are in the library, which is near the parking lotentrance. The facility is handicap accessible.

New Parents Meetings are scheduled as needed at a location convenient tothose involved. These self-help one-on-one meetings deal with the concerns ofparents and family members who have recently learned that a loved one isLesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered.


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June 2014 Page 2

PFLAGs Amy Fularz, Ann Carrier, John

and Diane Covert stand alongsideSwe et Homes Seth Rait, in middle.

From Left: Brian Carrier and Ann

Carrier (PFLAG), Dylan Corbin, and

Tina LaMendola, Hamburg HS GSA

advisor

PFLAG BUFFALO-NIAGARA AWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS

PFLAG members announce scholarship winners duringvisits to winners Gay Straight Alliance meetings

By Phil Salemi

May was an exciting month for our PFLAG chapter when ourprevious board president, Kristian Rickard and board memberJohn Covert saw their dreams and hard work come to fruition aswe awarded our first ever scholarships for college bound seniorsin the WNY area.

Scholarships were awarded to high schools seniors, Dylan Corbinfrom Hamburg, and Seth Rait from Sweet Home High Schools.

These $500.00 awards acknowledged their academic success aswell as their work and involvement in their schools respectiveGay and Straight Alliance organization.

Their dedication to the advancement the missions of the GSA andPFLAG, as well as their public support of issues and legislationthat impact LGBT people, were instrumental in their beingchosen to receive these awards.

The PFLAG board of directors was challenged with choosing these2 students from the many applications that were received, andwe wished we could have provided awards to everyone whoapplied.

We applaud all of the students who submitted scholarshipapplications and wish them all success on their college journeys;we look forward to their continued support of the LGBTcommunity.

Congratulations to all of our WNY graduates and allies!


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A TRIP TO NYC PFLAGS 6 th ANNUAL STRAIGHT FOR EQUALITY GALABy Amy Fularz

Along with my most recent honor of being elected to the PFLAG Buffalo Niagara Board of

Directors, I was also recently honored with a seat on PFLAG Nationals Business Advisory Board(BAB). Much like our Buffalo board the BAB offers guidance promoting PFLAGs vision toadvance equality in our communities. Straight for Equality is one of the many programs PFLAGhas to assist in their mission.

Allies that may not even have an LGBTQ relative but feel compelled to advocate or just standproudly for and with the gay community can get involved here and are then honored one nighta year at the gala. I had t he great fortune of attending PFLAGs 6 th Annual Straight for EqualityGala in New York City this past April. It was a fantastic night!

I was in awe as the evening took place in a ballroom of the gorgeous New York MarriottMarquis. The food was decadent, the dcor was elegant, and the company electric. Awardswere received by Johnson & Johnson for their understanding and dedication to the importanceof the LGBTQ ally in the workplace and engaging anti-bullying efforts with PFLAG.

Ruth W. Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), was honored not onlyfor dedicating her long career to ending poverty around the world but in using this experiencemore recently to push for LGBT rights globally.

And in entertainment I was delighted to see one of my childhood icons, Ally Sheedy, honored.The quiet Alison I adored from The Breakfast Club grew into an advocate. Today she fights forhomeless LGBTQ youth by not only speaking in Washington D.C. to educate, or sitting as anhonorary board member to the Ali Forney Center, but also working at this center to help

provide children with the support and housing they need. Awards, singing, dancing, auction,the list goes on! It truly was a fun evening.

But I think the highlight was hearing the success story of Sophie DiCampalto. Sophie is atransgender woman who proudly took the stage to thank PFLAG and Straight for Equality forhelping her workplace incorporate trans-inclusive policies and training, thus facilitating Sophiestransition.

It was devastating to hear her struggles as she began telling the story of her transition. But herstory did have a happy ending. This was largely in part to the work of the Straight for Equality project working closely with Sophies workplace to ensure she didnt have to be afraid and shecould be herself at work by having the support she needed.

She stood proud and strong because of PFLAGs life -s aving work and I couldnt help but getchoked up as she thanked PFLAG, knowing I am also part of this group. That night we were alla part the gala and of PFLAG. We all could see that over the years PFLAG has helped so manylives, just as it did Sophies .

What a night! We all listened to the acceptance speeches of the honorees and applauded thenumerous ways these advocates take a stand for or hold out a hand for the LGBTQ community.We heard Sophies story and her thank you to PFLAG for finding her support at work.


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PFLAG Buffalo Niagara Members ready to march with Pride

BUFFALO PRIDE WEEK AND PARADE- Proud Out Loud

Buffalos 23 rd annual Pride Week and the culminating Pride Parade took place from its May 25 th kickoff at City Hall until the parade and festival took place on June 1st. Pride Parade day was aperfect opportunity for all in the city to support our LGBT community in many ways. Somemarched, others attended with family, friends, and cheering, waving flags. The streets werecrowded on both side; porches and lawns held many celebrating and cheering as well. We atPFLAG Buffalo Niagara marched with our biggest group in years. Two members of PFLAGToronto stopped by to say hello as they were marching with a local veterans group.

The parade this year began on the Burchfield- Penney Campus and to Elmwood, ending atAllen. PFLAG members and marchers tossed beads all along the way, and on each string wasinformation about PFLAG. It was such a wonderful day and a highlight of a week where rainbowflags flew at City Hall and along so many local streets and in front of businesses.

Johnson and Johnsons Care with Pride program supports PFLAG in an ongoing fundraising

event; Care with Pride posters, tee-shirts, and the banner were sent from Johnson andJohnson and used in the parade and the after festival at Canalside. Later, at the Canalsidefestival, PFLAG had an informational booth in the marketplace with many other LGBTcommunity groups. But it was at the beginning of the parade that a very special momentoccurred. As the first groups turned from Rockwell Road to Elmwood, there was a rainbow, areal, perfect rainbow in the sky.

There had been no rain at all, but this rainbow still shone down on the day and the marchers. Amessage from above of support, love, and a harbinger of things to come this year? We atPFLAG certainly think so!


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GAY MARRIAGE BATTLE SPREADS TO MONTANA, BEYOND

By BRADY MCCOMBS and LISA BAUMANN with Kevin Burbach, Associated Press

Montana on Wednesday joined 28 other states with legal battles over gay marriage, whilesame-sex couples in Pennsylvania spent their first full day applying for marriage licensesknowing the governor wouldn't stand in their way.

A federal lawsuit filed by four gay couples in Montana leaves just two states North Dakotaand South Dakota with gay marriage bans and no legal challenges aiming to overturn them.But that's likely to change as same-sex marriage advocates there gear up for a legal fight.

State marriage bans have been falling around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court lastyear struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Gay and lesbian couples can wed in 19 states and the District of Columbia, with Oregon andPennsylvania becoming the latest to join the list this week when federal judges struck downtheir bans and officials decided not to appeal.

The Montana couples say their state's constitutional ban denies gay couples the freedom anddignity afforded to other Montanans and robs them of the legal protections and benefits thatcome with marriage. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock released a statement supporting theircause, while the state's Republican attorney general said he would vigorously defend the ban.

Meanwhile, a lesbian couple from Rapid City, South Dakota, said they also plan to challengetheir state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the coming days, along with aprovision in federal law that lets states avoid recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere.Their attorney said he's contemplating filing a lawsuit in North Dakota, too.

Here's a look at where things stand with other legal challenges across the country:

Arkansas: A state judge in Arkansas' largest county earlier this month struck down the state'sgay marriage ban, saying the state has "no rational reason" for preventing gay couples frommarrying. The state Supreme Court brought the marriages to a halt and is weighing state

officials' appeal.

Idaho: State officials announced this week they will appeal last week's decision from a federal judge overturning the state's same-sex marriage ban. The appeal goes to the 9th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals.

Indiana: State attorneys have asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to reviewa federal judge's recent order requiring Indiana to recognize the out-of-state marriage of alesbian couple in which one woman is terminally ill. That ruling applies just to one couple not


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Please circle item(s) JOIN US! PFLAG BUFFALO/NIAGARA

Please join our PFLAG chapter to support our mission at whatever level membership you can:

Lifetime Membership .................. ........ $500 New Renewal Change of Address Benefactor Membership .................. $250Sponsoring Membership .. $100 Advertising member (Business Card Advertisement $100 for 10 issues) Supporting Membership .............. ......... $50Household Membership . $30Newsletter Subscription Only.. $15 Please contact me about volunteer opportunities

Donations of $50.00 or more can be included in the chapter newsletter. Please circle. OK to publish Do not publish

Your National PFLAG membership is included in your local chapter dues. You will also receive the quarterly PFLAG-Pole Newsletter delivered to your home orby email from the national office. Circle here if you don t want to receive the PFLAG-Pole Newsletter

Make checks payable to PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara and mail to: P.O.Box 617 Buffalo, NY 14207

PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara is a non-profit 501(c)3 and donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Please write clearly

Name (s) ___________________________________________________________________________ Date ________________

Address______________________________________________ City _______________________________________________

State _____Zip ______________ Phone (____) __________________E-mail address___________________________________

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbian and Gays,

Buffalo-Niagara, is a non-profit, all volunteer,community-based organization not affiliated withany ethnic, religious, economic or political group.Membership is open to all. PFLAG membership listsare kept confidential and mailings are sent in plainenvelopes

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June PFLAG Newsletter