PFLAG is Family For All — and the Owen Sound Chapter is Changing
After more than a decade leading Owen Sound's PFLAG chapter, Joan Beecroft is stepping down. Erin and Nina will take over the monthly peer-support meetings.
by Joan Beecroft
Originally published in The Owen Sounder magazine
Do you have questions about sexual orientation or gender identity? Are you looking for peer support in these areas? Want to learn how to be an ally for a friend or family member who is coming out? Then Pflag is for you! This national volunteer group has a chapter in Owen Sound. We meet at the library on the 3rd Tuesday each month, in the Board Room at 6:30 pm.
“PFLAG Canada is proud to be Canada’s only national organization that offers peer-to-peer support striving to help all Canadians with issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. We support, educate, and provide resources to anyone with questions or concerns. We promise to offer local, practical, and emotional peer-to-peer family support for individuals and their loved ones challenged by gender/sexual identity” (pflagcanada.ca).
Each meeting is different. We might discuss local relevant events or watch a short film, and we always make sure everyone has a chance to talk. Some people come once, find what they need, and move on. Others keep attending for a year or more.
At one time, PFLAG was mainly parents worrying about their kids coming out as lesbian or gay, but it seems that societal changes have made that less of an issue. Currently, trans people and the parents and grandparents of trans youth are the majority. Youth are always welcome with or without an adult.
And now for the change: after more than a decade of facilitating the meetings and fielding phone-calls and emails, I’m stepping down. I leave the group in the excellent hands of Erin and Nina, regular members who have so much knowledge, empathy, and understanding of the situation for youth and adults who live under the rainbow.
If you’d like more information, you can contact PFLAG Owen Sound in several ways: Message PFLAGOwenSound on Facebook or Instagram, or email owensoundon@pflagcanada.ca.
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