PFLAG acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.
We promote the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, as well as their families and friends.
Advocacy
Education
Support
LGBTQIA+ Resources
Who We Are
50 Years of Leading with LoveFor fifty years, PFLAG has been where LGBTQ+ people, families, and allies have come together in pursuit of justice and affirmation—and always leading with love. What began as a letter led to a march, which launched a meeting and birthed a movement of millions. Since our earliest days, PFLAG has been the connector for LGBTQ+ people with community, parents with resources, and allies with tools, bolstering the LGBTQ+ movement with strength, power, and love.
Marriage Equality
PFLAG supports freedom to marry for couples, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, throughout the United States and the world. Marriage as a social institution confers rights and protections, both legal and practical. Among those federal and states rights are tax, inheritance and estate planning benefits; employment, disability and other public assistance; medical, death, family and housing benefits. The definition of marriage controls over 1,000 federal laws in which marital status is addressed. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on marriage equality. Justice Kennedy, in Obergefell, et al vs. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al, delivered the 26-page opinion, which states in part:
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed. It is so ordered.”
Safe and Welcoming Schools
PFLAG supports federal, state and local laws and advocates for legislation, regulations and school district policies which mandate policies and practices that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students from bullying, including cyber bullying, harassment, and discrimination. In the absence of such laws, PFLAG strongly advises public and private school administrators to implement comprehensive, inclusive policies and practices to end bullying, harassment, and discrimination and create a healthy, safe and welcoming learning environment for all students.
Family
PFLAG defines a family as two or more people with shared goals, values and commitment to each other and who when possible call the same dwelling home, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and no matter its point of origin, whether by birth, adoption, fostering or chosen. PFLAG believes family support and acceptance are critical to the health and wellbeing of people who are LGBTQ. The number of same-sex couples who reported in the 2010 Census that they are raising children under the age of 18 is 646,464, and experts believe that the number increases annually and would increase if federal and state nondiscrimination laws for adoption and fostering were in effect both for prospective LGBTQ parents and for LGBTQ youth eligible for permanent homes. PFLAG supports the right of straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals and couples to be parents, regardless of their marital status, through biological relationships and adoptive or foster relationships. PFLAG supports ensuring that LGBTQ families receive fair and equal consideration without discrimination when or whether considering or choosing birth, adoption or foster care settings.
Workplace Equality
PFLAG supports equal employment practices and employee benefits for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. PFLAG supports federal, state and local employment laws that protect persons in public and private workplaces from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. If workplace benefits are provided to opposite-sex married couples, these benefits should apply to same-sex married couples. Workplace benefits should include basic medical coverage, dependent care, retirement, and medically necessary care of LGBTQ individuals to protect all families’ financial and medical well-being. In 2015 and 2016, the EEOC ruled that gender identity and gender expression and sexual orientation, respectively, are protected in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 included in the definition of sex and sex stereotyping. In advance of passing comprehensive legal protections for LGBTQ employees and their families such as The Equality Act, PFLAG calls upon all employers to implement such measures proactively.
