PFLAG Alamance Monthly Meeting
Welcoming new people and old friends
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
7:00 p.m.
We are meeting in person next week
If you're more comfortable, feel free to wear a mask, and we
will be seated with adequate space for you to feel safe.
We will meet as usual at Elon Community Church
271 N. Williamson Ave.
Park and Enter from the rear. Plenty of paarking there
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June is Pride Month
It's a great time to get back in touch with PFLAG Alamance! If you're one of those who has stayed away from gathering together with others in our PFLAG meetings, Pride month might be just the right time for you to join in our next meeting. We have been arranging our meeting space for maximum safety, you can wear a mask and no one will object.
Our May meeting saw an increase in participation, along with plenty of shared experiences. We hope you will consider joining us next week, especially if you, your children or family members are dealing with issues related to LGBTQ+ challenges.
Show your pride and stand together with
others around the world.
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From NBC Out . . .
These gay moms didn't see their family represented in children's books — so they wrote their own
GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis and her wife, Kristen Ellis-Henderson, wrote "All Moms" so kids like theirs could "see themselves and be proud of their family."
June 2, 2022
By Joyann Jeffrey
Sarah Kate Ellis and her wife, Kristen Ellis-Henderson, were tired of not seeing their family represented in children's books, so the two moms decided to do something about it.
In March, they published "All Moms," a kids' book that celebrates all different types of moms and shows that families don’t have to involve a husband, wife and child.
“We really were specific about including so many families and types of families in this book, because oftentimes, our kids feel left out of the conversation, and they can’t see themselves, and this was an opportunity to let them see themselves and be proud of their family,” Ellis, who is also the president and CEO of LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD, said.
Ellis and Ellis-Henderson are both proud parents to their 13-year-old children, who were there when they wrote the book and an active part of the process.
“We wrote it on our dining room table and they were in and around and had comments and offered ideas and suggestions,” Ellis said. “So they’re very much a part of this book as well.”
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Something to Think About . . .
by Cindy Davis
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Every Memorial Day we have a yard sale. Or rather, my partner has a yard sale. I roll out of bed around 9am, throw on a pot of coffee and mosey on downstairs to supervise the situation. She is really good about letting me do this, even though she’s done most of the hard work. OK, all of the hard work. She even has professional yard sale signs made, laminated at Office Depot. By the time I appear on the scene I start moving items around on the tables, changing prices, and discovering stuff of hers that I forgot she had, that I want to keep! I know, I’m impossible.
I might feel guilty about being so irresponsible, but my partner enjoys doing these sales every year. She absolutely loves the preparation, loves getting up before the crack of dawn, and when the day is done, taking everything that does not sell to Goodwill. But I’ve left out the part I believe she fancies most – meeting people. She can carry on a conversation with anybody, from the smallest child to the oldest adult. She relishes being able to gift a kid a small toy or stuffed animal, and a book or a knick knack to a grownup. There are folks that visit her each year on Memorial Day, and she remembers them, remembers things about them. And they seem to pick up where they left off. As if another year had not passed.
I am not a social animal. This may seem surprising because I used to be a counselor.
Counseling was serious business. Small talk does not come easy to me. I realize that small talk requires patience, being willing to engage with neighbors who are unlike me, with whom I would not likely connect. Not an area of my expertise. Fortunately, this does not make me unhappy. But I am elated that my better half excels in this department.
One yard sale activity that both my partner and I like equally is when business concludes. It is so much fun to tally the bounty. All the quarters, dimes and nickels. A little of the green stuff! We spend time reflecting where we will squander it. Can you believe that she shares the dough with me? I’m thinking that we make a pretty good team!
Cindy Davis is a retired Licensed Professional Counselor.
She was an advice columnist for the Times-News, and is also a PFLAG Board Member.
Watch for Cindy's column each month on our Newsletter
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From the NBC Out. . .
A federal judge ruled in favor of a transgender sheriff’s deputy who was denied insurance coverage for a vaginoplasty.
June 3, 2022
A federal court in Georgia ruled Thursday that employers who categorically exclude gender-affirming medical care from health insurance coverage violate federal law.
Anna Lange, a transgender woman and sheriff’s deputy in Houston County, Georgia, sued in 2019 after she was denied coverage for a vaginoplasty in November 2018.
The Sheriff's Office provides health care coverage to employees through the county plan, which, beginning in 1998, excluded coverage for talk therapy related to gender dysphoria, gender-affirming hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries, according to the opinion released Thursday.
Chief Judge Marc Treadwell, of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, wrote in the opinion that the exclusion "plainly discriminates because of transgender status," and as a result violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin and other protected categories.
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Wish more spoke out like Abby!
Olympian, activist, and author Abby Wambach addressed the
Loyola Marymount University Undergraduate Commencement
on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Her speech is one every parent or LGBTQ+ person would have loved to hear at their graduation. She speaks honestly and positively, describing growing up as a gay person, loving her church but often not feeling loved by it.
It is worth your time to listen to this 15 minute speech (begins at about 4:30 on the Youtube video), and listening with your child if you are a parent of an LGBTQ person. you'll both benefit from doing so.
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A New Service of PFLAG Alamance
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Free Resouce Material . . .
PFLAG ALAMANCE HAS A NUMBER OF RESOURCE BOOKLETS THAT WE ARE ABLE TO OFFER FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE SEEKING EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL
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Through the generosity of PFLAG Alamance suporters, we can now send you these excellent publications from PFLAG National without charge:
Our Sons and Daughters
Questions and Answers for Paremts amd families of LGBTQ+ people
Our Trans Loved Ones
Questions and Answers related to Transgender and Gender Expansive persons
Supporting Your LGBTQ+ Grandchild
Your relationship can grow even closer as your work to embrace your grandchid's identity
Just contact us and we will secure the material and send it as soon as possible (allow two weeks):
Email: info@pflagalamance.org
Phone: (336) 584-8722
Mail: PFLAG Alamane
PO Box 623 Elon, NC 27244
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Another Effort by PFLAG National
to Spread the Word of Love and Accepance
All Across the Nation
We are excited to share that we will be partnering on a billboard campaign, aimed at spreading awareness and love for our transgender and LGB loved ones and their families, on digital billboards across the country. Have a Gay Day launched this program several weeks ago, and it’s been getting a ton of love from community members, in the press, and on social media. You might even have seen one of these billboards already in your own state, as yours is one of the states where this program launched!
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A word to some of you we haven't seen in a while . . .
If you dont feel you need PFLAG any longer, PFLAG needs you! Your experience can make a difference.
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Email
info@pflagalamance.org
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P.O. Box 623,
Elon, NC 27244
Phone Number:
336-584-8722
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