Our History

National History

PFLAG is the nation’s first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them. Today have a network of over 350 chapters with more than 325,000 members and supporters, but they got their start because of the unconditional love between a mother and her gay son. In 1972, Morty Manford was physically attacked and hospitalized leading a gay rights demonstration in New York City.


His mother Jeanne received a call about the attack and her combination of outrage and compassion led her to write a letter to a major New York City newspaper about her son and calling for justice for gay and lesbian people. A few months later, in June 1972, she marched in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March with her son in New York City and held a sign that read, “Parents of Gays: Unite in Support of Our Children.”


Jeanne’s activism began a movement of love that brought parents together for regular meetings to listen, to share, and to lead. Through the efforts of Jeanne and Morty, as well as Morty’s father Jules, the network of support groups quickly grew and became known as PFLAG, an organization of LGBTQ+ people, parents, families, and non-family allies. The rest is history!