The PFLAG NYC Safe Schools Program visited Community Action School on Manhattan's Upper West Side on February 3 to speak with the three sixth-grade classes. Volunteers Alice Wong, Aundaray Guess, Diane Coughlin, Florence Shuster, Myron Yolkut, Johanna Antar, and Judy Accurso shared their personal experiences of a loved one's coming out.

This week PFLAG NYC Executive Director Drew Tagliabue and Board Chair Suzanne Ramos met with the Family Matters Subcommittee of the New York City Commission for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Runaway and Homeless Youth, which is charged with devising strategies to address the needs of LGBTQ youth before they run away, while they are in need of shelter and support, and, if possible, to help reunite youth with their families.

Emmy-nominated writer-performer Jeffrey Solomon returns with his popular play, "Mother/SON". Solomon plays both a son and the mother who struggles to accept his sexual orientation, tracing her transformation from shell-shocked parent to the mom at the front of the Pride Parade.

Mother/SON was a hit with PFLAG during its run last year and we're pleased to support this encore run in 2010. See the show and support PFLAG NYC by purchasing special benefit tickets available for all shows!

On November 30, 2009, ten speakers from the PFLAG NYC Safe Schools Program visited the United Nations International School (UNIS) and spoke with all five ninth-grade classes, or a total of 125 students. The visit was part of the school's efforts to reduce bias, prejudice and name-calling, and create a respectful school environment for all students.

Coming out in middle school was the topic of the cover story in the New York Times Sunday Magazine on September 27, 2009. The article related stories of young people coming out in middle school or high school in towns across the country, from New England to Oklahoma to California.