Dear PFLAG Supporter, The winter holiday season is a time of joy for so many that also heralds challenges for others. For many folks, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, holidays bring up complicated feelings about family and tradition. Take an extra moment this holiday season to care for yourself and others with our Going Home for the Holidays or Any Days guide. Inside you’ll find great tips on how to plan for difficult conversations, caring for yourself through visits with family, and connecting with your support networks. The guide also has great tips on how to support your LGBTQ+ loved ones during the holidays. Think about how you want to show up as an ally before, during, and after familial gatherings. Looking for more? Check out our How to “Ally” for the Holidays guide! It only takes one voice to make change, especially in small gatherings where your opinions are highly valued. As we enter the holiday season, PFLAG may be a place people turn to in their time of crisis. Make sure your facilitators and chapter leaders are ready to provide support in the form of up-to-date local resources and de-escalation strategies. Look to our resource, useful for both virtual and in-person meetings and activities, PFLAG Virtual Support Group Meetings: If Someone is in Crisis for sample scripts and key steps to take. | |
Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and their Families is a beautiful and powerful book developed by interviewer Peggy Gillespie, and published by Skinner House Books. Created in collaboration with PFLAG National and the Transgender Legal & Defense Fund, Authentic Selves celebrates trans and nonbinary people and their families in stunning photographs and compelling stories. Now, the folks behind Authentic Selves have a traveling exhibit that PFLAG chapters can bring to their communities, nationwide. A number of chapters are already participating, and yours can be next! Whether hosting at a school, house of worship, library, or elsewhere, Authentic Selves—which features numerous PFLAG families within its pages PLUS a preface by PFLAG National CEO Brian Bond—builds on PFLAG’s work to soften hearts, change minds, and create a lasting difference. “In a time when libraries across the country, are facing book challenges and harassment for including LGBTQ+ people in their mission, our PFLAG chapter in southeast Michigan was delighted to find a welcoming library, the Plymouth District Library, to sponsor the Authentic Selves photo exhibit and book display. During the two-week exhibit, we also set up a Zoom discussion with author Peggy Gillespie and three transgender people featured in the book, whose touching and powerful stories left the audience spellbound. The exhibit is headed to two more area libraries next. Any public library should be proud to sponsor the photo exhibit, to foster compassion for transgender and nonbinary people, who are being being targeted by cruel legislation.”
- Laurie Mayers (she/her), PFLAG Plymouth-Canton "We showed the traveling exhibit Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and their Families at a special PFLAG Thanksgiving celebration. It was a successful and wonderful event! Many people attended and they all enjoyed the exhibit very much. We also announced the amazing news that I was able to get the exhibit booked for the month of December at the beautiful El Paso Museum of History. We are now working with Peggy Gillespie (the editor) and Family Diversity Projects to plan a hybrid event, featuring Peggy and three or four of the people in the exhibit and book."
- Margarita Sanchez Almeida (she/her), PFLAG El Paso Order the book now, or for more information on booking the exhibit, please visit the Authentic Selves website or contact Peggy Gillespie at familydiversityprojects@gmail.com. | |
Stay safe,  Ruadhan Ward (They / Them) | |
