Subject: PFLAG Release
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 11:11:39 -0500

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Shelley Golden, [email-masked]
Rob Banaszak, [email-masked]
202-638-4200

PFLAG CONDEMNS ATLANTA BOMBING
CALLS ATTENTION TO THE NEED FOR SAFE SPACES FOR GAY FAMILIES

Angered and troubled by Friday night's bombing of an Atlanta lesbian and
gay bar, the  members of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
(PFLAG) call on all people to recognize and address the daily dangers faced
by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, and their families and
friends.

"We have had to fear anti-gay violence on the streets, on the job and in
schools," said PFLAG President Nancy McDonald.  "Now the violence has
penetrated further, invading the very places where our gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered family members and friends have found safety in
the past.  We must encourage tolerance, we must advocate for safety, we
must speak out against hate, and we must do it now.  If we wait, what
happened in Atlanta on Friday could happen anywhere in the country
tomorrow."

Concerned by recent violent hate crimes against gay students, verbal
harassment of gay youth, and attempts by school boards to deny
extra-curricular status to gay/straight alliances, the members of Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) set as an organizational
priority the cultivation of safe spaces for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered youth, and children of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered parents in 1997.

On Sunday, members of PFLAG Atlanta, with representatives from other
community organizations, discussed this weekend's bombing with Mayor Bill
Campbell's office.  In 1995, the chapter spearheaded local development of
Project Open Mind -- PFLAG's national education campaign designed to
demonstrate the harmful, violent consequences of anti-gay hate speech.

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 nationwide, with more than 67,000 household members.