Greensboro PFLAG newsletter, May 1999

              N
O
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
o
PO Box 4153  GREENSBORO, NC 27404 PHONE (336) 852-8489 Vol.6 No.5 May, 1999
POTLUCK AT tf:O0
MEETING
7:30 TUESDAY, May 17
FRIENDSHIP FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE
1103 NEW GARDEN RQAD>GREENSB®R&
ABOUT PARENTS1 GROUP,   PRESENTATIONS,   PRIDE   AND   POTLUCK
At last month's meetintg, gay parents Bradley
and Eric impressed the group with their dedication to their children and their enthusiastic need
for a gay parents' support and social group.
After talking with them again, I asked ART's
new President, our Rachel Roberts, to request
Friendship Friends' permission to use their
Meeting House on the second and fourth Mondays. It was graciously granted. The group will
have its first meeting on May 10, before this
reaches you, but the second will be May 24. So
if you know of 1/g/b/t parents who are raising
children, please give the enclosed brochure to
them.
We recognize the heroic job gay parents do in
taking care of their children, often without
support from families or the courts. And though
children raised by gay parents do well, it is
helpful for them, also, to have peers to play and
talk with.
Welcome to PFLAG. We offer a safe,
confidential space in which to explore
our feelings and understandings of the
gay experience, especially "coming out"
and what this means to families and
other loved ones. Listen and share as
much or as little as you feel comfortable
with, knowing that others can understand. Welcome especially to our return-
ing members whose love is so healing
**********
It was great to see Carol's face in the newspaper and to read that she was presented the
Excellence in Community Service Award at
Guilford College. In the 30 years she has been
there she has given of herself in many ways—as
she has for us. Congratulations, Carol! Well
deserved!
Rachel Roberts is a blessing to our community in many ways. After joining PFLAG,
she agreed to be our T-SON representative to assist us in our understanding of transsexuals. She
tells me she will be ready by August to do presentations for groups about transsexuality.
(She'll start with a program at Guild in June.)
After doing a superb job of keeping the hotline
well staffed, she administered the last hotline
training weekend and has now taken on the
leadership of ART. Thanks and good luck!
**********
The NC Pride f99 celebration will be in
Greensboro this year—June llthough 13. On a
following page is a list of some of the events.
Everyone can do something. What will you do?
Write a letter to the newspaper? Discuss homophobia in your church? Attend a Friday night or
Saturday program? Ask friends to join you at the
Sunday morning ecumenical worship service?
Attend the rally? Watch from the sidewalks?
March behind PFLAG's banner in the parade?
Several people have reminded me to remind
you that we are having a potluck before the
meeting in May. We have been so lucky with
our potlucks. It's good to relax together with
delicious food, and I am forever amazed that,
without any formal arranging, we seem to have
plenty and variety.
The chapter provides drinks and paper products. If you're a cook, bring your specialty; if
not, the Harris Teeter is handy.
We start at 6:00, but don't be concerned if
you can't make it right then. Come when you
can; we'll save some for you!
As a special treat, at about 7:15 we'll be
showing the video made for Green Party. I think
you will recognize some of the "stars".
***************
Here's another P which I couldn't fit into the
headline:
Our favorite playwright, Steve Willis,
worked with a drama class at GTCC to create a
delightful play entitled Mother, May I? which a
group of us enjoyed at the end of May. This
work-in- progress will shortly be ready for
presentation. Can you think of a group which
might like to underwrite it?
In the Pride article you can see that Steve will
be reading from his most recent "Jeff Play. The
first presentation of the full play will be June
24—27 at 8:00 p.m. with an additional matinee'
on Sunday at 2:00. He has asked that PFLAG
sponsor a reception at the Friday (25th)
performance. We talked about this last month
and will decide this month.