Support

At Ease: A New PFLAG National Publication for Military Families with LGBTQ+ Kids

Military families with LGBTQ+ dependents have a unique set of challenges. Moving every few years means reevaluating the cultural norms, laws, schools, and support of LGBTQ+ people at each location. It can feel overwhelming trying to find support for your LGBTQ+ child and yourself. In this new publication, you’ll find valuable information designed to help you navigate the military system and find the support that your child— and your entire family—need. You’ll also hear from other military families, parents, and youth on similar journeys. Some have since retired from military service, their LGBTQ+ children now grown. Others are still very much in the thick of it, with active duty service members and spouses serving our country while raising LGBTQ+ youth. 

The staff and volunteers of PFLAG National feel honored to work with military families to help them better support their LGBTQ+ loved ones.

For the English-language version, visit pflag.org/AtEase.

For the Spanish-language version, visit pflag.org/Descansen.

Education

Three Steps to Being a Better Self-Care Advocate

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it’s more important than ever to make sure that you are taking care of yourself and helping others do the same.

1. Learn: Read this article on the history of self-care and these 12 quotes from Audre Lorde so you can better understand and explain why taking care of our mental and physical health is an integral part of activism.
2. Watch: Check out this iconic video from Angela Davis on radical self-care posted as a part of a video series by AfroPunk in 2018. Rewatch some episodes of Something To Talk About Live! including one from last year about self-care during political turmoil and one from May about helping young people who report feeling down.
3. Share: Use social media to share with friends and family what you’ve been doing to take care of yourself lately. Post a list of self-care activities, like this one from GirlBoss, to get the conversation started with groups you are a part of online.

Advocacy

Organizing Training: Let's stop Anti-LGBTQ+ Censorship and Book Bans!

The need for allies to organize and advocate against the growing censorship efforts across the country is critical. To that end, there's still time to join PFLAG National and Red, Wine & Blue (RWB) for one of two PFLAG National-exclusive sessions of RWB’s Troublemaker Training: Book Ban Edition, on May 3rd or May 7th.

This training will help you:

• Identify in your community any budding, existing, or potential risks to censorship through book bans at local public libraries or schools
• Take action by knowing the players, process, and opportunities to speak up and halt these acts of censorship
• Alert your PFLAG community and other neighbors to join the research, monitoring and action to protect against book-banning censorship
• Expand your network of active community members across the country engaged in this important fight for inclusive reading and educational opportunities and access

Register now for the session that works best for your schedule; both sessions will contain the same content:

• Tuesday, May 3 at 8:30 PM ET / 5:30 PM PT
• Saturday, May 7 at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT

Something to Talk About...Live!

Supporting LGBTQ+ Dependents In Military Families

Many LGBTQ+ advocates know the history of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and understand the complexities of being an out, LGBTQ+ servicemember today. What they may not realize is that the realities of military life are also complicated for families with children who are LGBTQ+.

Join us this Thursday, May 5th at 4:30 PM ET / 1:30 PM PT for Something To Talk About Live, where we will be discussing PFLAG National's newest publication, At Ease: Support for Military Families With LGBTQ+ Children and Teens, with Liz Castro, PFLAG Board Member, and her son Enrique Castro.

You can watch live on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

For more information--and to check out our discussion questions in advance--visit pflagnation.al/STTALive-050522.