Jeanne Manford, the founder of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and an all-around pioneering straight ally in the LGBT rights movement, has died at the age of 92.
Manford died at her home in Daly City, Calif. after a series of health problems.
Manford became active in LGBT rights when in 1972 her gay son had been badly beaten at a gay activists protest while police stood by. She wrote a letter to The New York Post declaring, “Yes, I have a homosexual child.
Two months later, Manford and her son, Morty, marched in New York’s Christopher Street Liberation Day March together. Manford carried a sign which read, “Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children.” The first meeting of PFLAG (which was then known as “Parents of Gays” or “POG”) was held in New York’s Metropolitan Community Church the following year.
PFLAG national executive director, Jody Huckaby paid tribute to Manford in a statement published on the PFLAG Web site:
Today the world has lost a pioneer: Jeanne Manford, the founder of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and the Mother of the Straight Ally movement.
Jeanne was one of the fiercest fighters in the battle for acceptance and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. It is truly humbling to imagine in 1972 – just 40 years ago – a simple schoolteacher started this movement of family and ally support, without benefit of any of the technology that today makes a grassroots movement so easy to organize. No Internet. No cellphones. Just a deep love for her son and a sign reading “Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children.”
This simple and powerful message of love and acceptance from one person resonated so strongly it was heard by millions of people worldwide and led to the founding of PFLAG, an organization with more than 350 chapters across the U.S. and 200,000 members and supporters, and the creation of similar organizations across the globe.
Jeanne’s work was called “the story of America…of ordinary citizens organizing, agitating, educating for change, of hope stronger than hate, of love more powerful than any insult or injury,” in a speech by President Barack Obama in 2009.
All of us – people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight allies alike – owe Jeanne our gratitude. We are all beneficiaries of her courage. Jeanne Manford proved the power of a single person to transform the world. She paved the way for us to speak out for what is right, uniting the unique parent, family, and ally voice with the voice of LGBT people everywhere.
A private interment service will be held and details of a later celebration of Jeanne Manford’s life and legacy will be announced, according to PFLAG.
