Subject: PFLAG Release
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 14:58:59 -0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           CONTACT:  Shelley Golden, [email-masked]
NOVEMBER 5, 1996                          Rob Banaszak, [email-masked]
                                          202/638-4200

15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND PROJECT OPEN MIND BILLBOARDS
ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF PFLAG'S OCTOBER ACTIVITIES

        While more than 1,000 members of Parents, Families and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) gathered in the Washington, D.C. area October
11-14 to celebrate PFLAG's 15 year history, local chapter members
encountered opposition to their continued mission to educate the public
about the effects of hate speech.

PFLAG HOUSTON EDUCATIONAL BILLBOARDS DEFACED
        A billboard designed to be part of PFLAG's Project Open Mind
Campaign in Houston was marred with a message of judgement. The billboard,
which originally featured a large family photograph and beared the message:
"Someone you know and love is gay" was spray painted with the sentence:
"God forgive us and save us."  The Houston chapter of PFLAG had raised more
than $40,000 from individual donors in order to produce the billboard ads.
        Houston is one of five cities nationwide where PFLAG has launched
Project Open Mind, a multimedia educational campaign which confronts
Americans with the disastrous and often violent consequences of hate speech
and intolerance of gays and lesbians. According to the Federal Bureau of
Investigators, more than 1,000 hate crimes were committed against gay,
lesbian and bisexual people in 1995. A University of Calgary study shows
that suicide, a leading cause of death among all adolescents, is 14 times
more likely among young gay men.

PFLAG INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE LARGEST EVER
        More than 1,000 PFLAG members from across the country and around
the world came to the Washington, D.C. area October 11-14, 1996, 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.
        On the final night of the Conference,  six new members of the Board
of Directors, elected in late summer by the membership, stepped into their
new roles. Mitzi Henderson, President of PFLAG since 1992, officially
passed the gavel to incoming president Nancy McDonald, of Tulsa, Okla.

        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 400 communities in every state, with 65,000 household members.