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Aired Jun 30, 2022

Jeanne Manford – Mother of a Movement

50 years ago, PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford made history when she first wrote an open letter to the New York Post in support of equal rights for LGBTQ+ people, and then became the first parent to publicly march in solidarity and support of rights for her gay son. Those actions sparked a movement of millions, eventually leading to the founding of the organization now known as PFLAG.  

We hosted a conversation about this article as a part of PFLAG Connects and Something to Talk About Live on Thursday, June 30. Did you miss it? You can still watch it here!    

Article: Season 1, Episode 6: Jeanne & Morty Manford

Source: Making Gay History

Author: Eric Marcus

Questions for Discussion:

  1. How familiar were you with PFLAG’s history and how it fits into the larger LGBTQ+ movement? If you answered “not very familiar”, why do you think that’s the case? If you were familiar with PFLAG’s history, where did you learn about it?

  2. Jeanne Manford has been referred to as the mother of the ally movement since her appearance in the 1972 NYC Pride parade (then called the Christopher Street Liberation Day March) is tied for formal ally organizing. Can you name any other examples of people in civil rights movements who led allies to organize around issues for marginalized people? Do their stories parallel Jeanne’s?

  3. How can people use books for youth like Rob Sanders’ “The Mother of a Movement: Jeanne Manford–Ally, Activist, and Co-Founder of PFLAG” to engage young people in conversations about civil rights history? Can you identify other books that would also work in these conversations?

About Our Guests:

Rob Sanders, author of The Mother of a Movement: Jeanne Manford–Ally, Activist, and Co-Founder of PFLAG Rob Sanders

Eric Marcus, author of Making Gay History 

Ways to Watch: 

Also available on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Something to Talk About Live is a series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about LGBTQ+ issues. Each week we offer an article on LGBTQ+ topics and suggest a few questions you can use to lead a discussion with your ERG, community group, or PFLAG chapter.