PFLAG Annapolis/Anne Arundel County
Support for the LGBTQ+ Community, Their Families, Friends, and Allies
Read the pledge PFLAG and over 500 other LGBTQ+ organizations have signed to end racism and white supremacy in the US. PFLAG has incorporated this pledge into their bylaws.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The percentage of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) increased to 4.5% in 2017, up from 4.1% in 2016 and 3.5% in 2012 when Gallup began tracking the measure. The latest estimate is based on over 340,000 interviews conducted as part of Gallup’s daily tracking in 2017.
Read the full article here: https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspx
Today, GLSEN and PFLAG join together to re-launch our #ClaimYourRights Campaign, to help anyone affected by or witnessing anti-transgender discrimination in our schools file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. Secretary DeVos clearly needs to better understand the extent of the daily pain and real barriers to wellbeing that the original Departmental guidance was designed to address and eliminate. We must see if her actions will live up to her words, and to the promises made by federal law and the United States Constitution.
GLSEN and PFLAG will do everything in our power to see to it that they do. What can you do? Here are handy tools and resources for you and your chapter, at your fingertips:
Thank you for everything you do to create a community where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
Beth Kohm
Interim Executive Director
PFLAG National
Follow PFLAG National:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vermont tops a new ranking of states by the portion of adults in 2015 and 2016 who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) at 5.3%. Massachusetts (4.9%), California (4.9%), Oregon (4.9%) and Nevada (4.8%) round out the top five.
The District of Columbia’s 8.6% LGBT exceeds that of any of the states. States with the lowest percentage of LGBT-identifying residents include South Dakota (2.0%), North Dakota (2.7%), Idaho (2.8%), South Carolina (3.0%) and Montana (3.0%).
Read more here: http://www.gallup.com/poll/203513/vermont-leads-states-lgbt-identification.aspx?utm_source=genericbutton&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=sharing.
The Anne Arundel County and Annapolis chapter of PFLAG, a national nonprofit organization, celebrated its launch at a picnic at Crofton Park on Sunday, August 7, 2016.
The group started meeting in May 2016 and obtained its nonprofit status this summer.
Read more here: http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/ph-ac-cn-pflag-annearundel-0808-20160807-story.html.
Olympian and U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Megan Rapinoe published a touching “Letter to My 13-Year-Old Self” on The Bleacher Report Friday, just 24 hours before her team took the field for their second match of the Olympic Games in Rio. Below is an excerpt:
“If you knew then what you know now, maybe you would have felt better about branching out on your own a little more. Maybe you would have realized that it was totally OK that you didn’t quite know how to wear the right clothes or whether you were supposed to think the boy sitting next to you in class was cute. Maybe you would have realized that you were gay. And funny. And outgoing. And one of the best soccer players around.”
Read more here: http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/dear-megan/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national.
The recently formed Annapolis chapter of PFLAG will hold a “Colorful Kickoff Cookout” this Sunday, August 7, 2016, which represents the chapter’s first major event. It will take place between 4 and 7 p.m. in Crofton Park, 2285 Davidsonville Rd., in Gambrills.
Though initial meetings have taken place beginning in May, the chapter was officially titled in June by PFLAG National. It joins other Maryland PFLAG chapters that have been established in Columbia, Westminster, Frederick, Chestertown, Bethesda, Bel Air and Salisbury.
“We’d really like to get to different parts of the county to show that support is available and let the community members show each other that their community is a safe and supportive one,” Alyssa Fenix, a member of the chapter’s steering committee and one of the lead organizers of the cookout, told the Blade. “This having a history of being a conservative county, the LGBTQ community here needs to know that they can access resources without having to travel to surrounding counties, and that we are dedicated to making sure everyone knows how and where they can find supports and information.”
Read more here: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/08/03/annapolis-pflag-hold-first-major-event/.