Judy Sennesh, Board Member &
Founder, TransParents Project

Try to imagine how I felt when my lesbian daughter — "out" since her early teens and accepted and loved by family and friends — came to me at the end of her junior year at college and announced,

"Mom, I was born with the wrong body and need to become a boy."

Ask any parent with a transgender child and they will tell you that these words, which we've all heard in one form or another, send shockwaves through your soul. You pour over the details of your parenting, searching for the thing you did that was "wrong." You panic, thinking about hormones and surgeries that loom ahead, lining and defining the path of your beloved child's life for years to come. You lie awake at night, trying to imagine how grandparents could ever embrace, or even comprehend, such strange news. Read more »

My name is Tommy Craven. I am a full-time freshman at NYU and a part-time intern at PFLAG NYC. I wanted to do an internship at PFLAG NYC mainly because of the Safe Schools Program, which I wish we had had in my high school in Indiana. The Safe Schools Program aims to eliminate intolerance in city middle and high schools by engaging parents and other straight allies, as well as members of the LGBT community, to share their personal stories. These stories of coming out and of accepting LGBT family members help to make tangible to students the life experiences and struggles of LGBT people, their families, and friends.

I spoke for the first time last Wednesday, and my hope was to share my story and connect with at least one student on how they see the LGBT community. Sitting in the auditorium of Columbia Secondary School in Harlem, I was a little nervous about telling my story in front of teenagers I had never even met. The most overwhelming pressure was not knowing what to expect. What would the children think of me and my choices? How would they respond to my deeply personal story? Maybe they would laugh and mock me right in front of my eyes. I was not certain what would be coming through the auditorium doors. Read more »

Share Your Personal Stories and Help LGBT and Straight Youth Alike

Come to the Safe Schools Speaker Training Workshop on Saturday, November 19

Jonathan Julian Speaks with Students at the High School for Law and Public Service

In just a few short years, the number of students reached by the Safe Schools Program of PFLAG NYC has grown from barely 500 students to almost 5,000 students in the past school year. We know from testimonials from teachers, principals, and students that we're making a difference every time we go into a classroom and share our stories. We are helping to change the climate in that school from one where LGBT kids are afraid and harassed to one where they feel safe and can thrive. Read more »

Marc Adams is the author of nine books including his award-winning autobiography, The Preacher's Son, five collections of poetry, and his most recent book, It’s Not About You: Understanding Coming Out & Self Acceptance. His awards include the Silver Pen Award and Lambda Literary Award.

Marc Adams is also the founder and executive director of HeartStrong, an educational non-profit organization that provides support and outreach to LGBT students from religious educational institutions who are struggling with feeling that they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). The HeartStrong Outreach Team has driven over 327,000 miles in the past nine years. Read more »

Please join us at the PFLAG NYC Awards Dinner on Monday, October 10, as we celebrate the many ways in which families and allies are creating a more accepting, more equal world for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Tickets are available now.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Sandra Lee of the Food Network and Semi-Homemade Magazine will be recognized as family allies for marriage equality. Both spoke out passionately about their gay relatives and why marriage equality was important to their families. PFLAG has long held that sharing our families' own stories of having LGBT loved ones is the most powerful way we have to increase understanding and fight for full equality for all our family members. Read more »