Subject: PFLAG Conference
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:36:00 -0400

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

For Immediate Release
October 16, 1996

Contact: Shelley Golden, Press Associate, [email-masked]
         Rob Banaszak, Communications Director, [email-masked]
         202.638.4200

NANCY MCDONALD ELECTED NEW NATIONAL PRESIDENT
AT LARGEST EVER PFLAG ANNUAL CONFERENCE

        Nancy McDonald became the new national president of Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) at a ceremony held
Sunday, October 13,
1996, at the close of PFLAG's 15th Anniversary Annual Conference. The
conference was PFLAG's largest ever -- attended by more than 1,000 PFLAG
members from across the country and around the world -- and took place in the
Washington, D.C. area, October 11-14, 1996.  Mitzi Henderson, President of
PFLAG since 1992, passed her leadership torch to PFLAG Vice President Nancy
McDonald, after the Board of Directors elected McDonald to serve as its next
president.

        McDonald, an education consultant and mother of a lesbian daughter,
co-founded the PFLAG Chapter in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was a PFLAG Regional
Director from 1991-1995, and Vice President of PFLAG's national Board of
Directors from 1995-1996. Her other community leadership positions include
serving as President of the HIV Resource Consortium Board of Directors and
Vice President of the Community Service Council. She is on the Board of
Directors of Planned Parenthood of Eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas and works
with a summer camp for gifted and talented children called Great
Expectations.  McDonald and her
husband Joe have five children and five grandchildren.

        "Thousands of PFLAG families have been buoyed by our support
network, but thousands more still seek our accepting environment," McDonald
said.
"Communities across this country have listened as we have denounced  negative
stereotyping, but we have more friends, neighbors, school boards and community
leaders to educate.  PFLAG members have testified before legislatures and
written letters to their government representatives. Many politicians, however,
still need to hear our family voices. Together we can celebrate our history,
and together we can recommit ourselves to our mission of support, education and
advocacy."

        Henderson, who will remain active by heading PFLAG's new Fund for
the Future, a program designed to ensure the financial security of the
organization,
praised the Board's choice of McDonald.  "During my presidency, Nancy has been
a trusted counsellor," shsaid as she turned her office over to McDonald. "She
is extremely committed to the mission of PFLAG, and her skills are so evident
-- I have absolute confidence that PFLAG will flourish under her leadership."

        PFLAG members gathered at the 15th Anniversary Conference to build
skills, strengthen internal networks and celebrate their families.
Highlights of the Conference included a reception honoring openly gay Rep.
Gerry Studds
(D-Mass.), welcoming remarks by former White House liaison to the gay and
lesbian community, Marsha Scott, and a "Toast to Families" featuring PFLAG's
newest members, Cher and lesbian daughter Chastity Bono.

        Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) promotes
the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons, their
families, and
friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to
enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and
secure civil rights.  PFLAG provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual
orientation, and acts to create a society that is healthy, and respectful of
diversity.  Founded in 1981, PFLAG is now organized in more than 400
communities in every state, with 65,000 household members.