| Monthly Meeting: Most 3rd Mondays, First Congregational Church,
1050 E. 23rd, 6:45 p.m.
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Chapter History
History of PFLAG Eugene/Springfield
In 1984, a Mom, Joyce Engels, after struggling to understand and come to some kind of agreement with her son's coming out 2 years earlier, and with the encouragement of the minister of the local Metropolitan Community Church, decided to start a local support group. Because the Portland Gay Men's Chorus was coming to town to perform at the Hult Center, they quickly developed a flyer to hand out at the door to advise people that there was now a local PFLAG group.
When Joyce wrote to PFLAG Los Angeles for information about starting a Chapter they told her that another Mom, Dona Nelson, who also had a gay son and was living in Springfield also had contacted them for information.
Over lunch the two Moms planned a Parents Flag chapter for Eugene/Springfield. They got a post office box, listed with Whitebird Clinic as a resource and with the Register Guard as a support group.
The group did not take off immediately. The two Moms mostly took calls and spoke with people. Joyce went to the PFLAG National Convention in Portland, OR in 1986 and was thrilled to meet so many other parents.
In 1989 with the addition of a couple of other Moms a group known as Family FLAG began meeting monthly in people's homes until the group became too large, and then they met at the First Congregational Church.
In 1990 members wrote newspaper articles and designed a brochure which was placed in churches and other public places.
In 1991 they were represented with a booth at the Eugene Celebration and have continued to have a presence there ever since.
In 1992 the chapter joined in support of a "NO" vote on measure 20-08, discriminatory legislation proposed in Springfield which eventually passed (and later was repealed.)
Also in 1992 the statewide anti-gay measure 9 was introduced by the OCA, and Family FLAG joined in the effort which led to its defeat, marching in the Eugene Celebration parade with a "No on 9" banner.
In 1993 there was an educational media blitz in the Register Guard sponsored by Family and Friends of Lesbian and Gays. Later that year the Board voted to change the name to Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays or PFLAG Eugene/Springfield. In 1994 several PFLAG Board members went to the Annual Conference in San Francisco and came home even more energized and active.
The efforts of PFLAG has steadily grown ever since as has its membership.
1998 saw the beginning of what has become a highly successful annual Dinner and Silent Auction. The proceeds of this fund-raiser has made it possible for PFLAG Eugene/Springfield to fund the Youth Group for ages 13 to 18 which meets each Friday afternoon at Amazon Community Center. The dinner was first held at Cafe 131 in Springfield and, as it grew, it moved to Willamalane Community Center, St. Paul's Parish Hall, and for the last 2 years to Lane County Fairgrounds Wheeler Pavilion. It has become a gala affair with upwards of 250 people attending.
2000 was a very active year with 5 members in May attending the National Conference and the Millennium March in Washington DC. With another OCA initiative on the ballot, members spent many volunteer hours staffing the "No On 9" headquarters, making phone calls and making a difference in many little and not so little ways to defeat the measure in November.
The organization has been regularly invited to high schools, Lane Community College, and the University of Oregon to make presentations to educate about GLBTQ issues and to do teacher training. Members serve on advisory committees for school districts. Members have also been active in an advocacy role by lobbying members of the State Legislature and Congress. Members have been represented on the Human Rights Commission and on the Trans Study Group of the HRC. PFLAG Eugene/Springfield publishes a monthly newsletter, maintains a "Help Line" and a Website. The Chapter also has built coalitions with other human rights organizations.
In 2004 PFLAG co-sponsored a Freedom to Marry Celebration, honoring over 40 local couples
who took advantage of the window of opportunity to obtain marriage licenses. Our march in the Eugene Celebration marked a high point in our lives,
as we were enthusiastically received by the crowds along the sidewalks.
In 2005 PFLAG held a GALA event at the Hult Center: Dudes, Damsels & WYMPROV! Sponsored by
Equity Foundation, Mother Kali's Bookstore, Neighbors Bar and Bistro, and WYMPROV! The program
featured family-friendly drag king and queen acts and improvisation, and netted thousands for LGBTQ
Youth programs in the Lane County area.
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Help Line Number:
(541) 302-4422
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Community Calendars:
PFLAG Vision
We, the parents, families and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons, celebrate diversity and envision a society that embraces everyone, including those of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Only with respect, dignity and equality for all will we reach our full potential as human beings, individually and collectively. PFLAG welcomes the participation and support of all who share in, and hope to realize this vision.
PFLAG Mission
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered 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 to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.
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