Archives: FAQs

Each of us comes for a different reason.

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people come to a PFLAG meeting:
  • to learn from other family members and allies how they can tell the people in their own lives that they are LGBTQ.
  • to help other people adjust to the news that someone they know is LGBTQ.
  • to create a family of choice to replace the family they lost when they came out.
• Parents and family members come to get support from other parents and family members who have been through similar experiences.
• Spouses of LGBTQ persons come because they want to support their spouses and their families.
• Transgender people and their parents come because they want to get support and share about what it is like to have a family member transition to another gender.
• Allies and friends come to meetings:
  • to support a friend who is LGBTQ
  • to learn how to handle LGBTQ issues that face them in today’s society, and how to stand up for the rights of LGBTQ people
  • to connect with other folks in their community who care about and are working for equal rights for LGBTQ folks

Everyone! There are many different types of people who come to PFLAG meetings. All are welcome. You always have a home in PFLAG.

No. You can simply attend one or more of our monthly support meetings.

In a word? No. Any efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity are unnecessary, damaging, and dangerous. Learn more about reparative therapy and PFLAG’s position on it.

Start by thinking about how your faith community views LGBTQ people. Think about the conversations you’ve had with fellow congregants and the kinds of preaching you’ve heard about LGBTQ people during services. If your community is open and welcoming, it’s likely that you will find a strong support system among clergy and faith leaders. Other situations can be dicier, since an individual congregation’s stance may run contrary to their denomination as a whole, or may be split on their attitudes toward people who are LGBTQ. Finding someone you can trust can be a helpful source of perspective and help.

Our interpretations of religious texts has changed and evolved over history. Every text, including the Bible, Koran, and Torah (among others), is open to a variety of interpretations, and passages about sexual orientation and gender identity and expression are no exception. Explore the text with fresh eyes, and acquaint yourself with the scholarship and the debates. You may be surprised to find that those questions deepen not only your understanding but also your appreciation, of scripture you may have taken for granted.

Thankfully, yes. When the Metropolitan Community Church was founded in 1968 as a positive ministry to the LGBT community, it was the first of its kind in the world. Not only has MCC grown in the intervening decades, but other mainstream congregations have affirmed the rights of LGBTQ people, including other Christian faiths, Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, and more. Within almost every denomination, individuals–and sometimes entire congregations–are blazing a trail even when the denomination as a whole lags behind. Those changes, from the ordination of openly LGBTQ clergy to progress, on marriage equality, to affirmation of people who are transgender, were often spearheaded by people who’ve done the hard work of changing hearts and minds.

Absolutely! We cannot say this enough: to be a person of faith and a person who is LGBTQ–or who has a loved one that is LGBTQ–are not mutually exclusive. LGBTQ people and their loved ones can be found in almost every faith tradition; you’re not alone.

For people with close ties to a faith tradition or faith community that is not welcoming, this can be a very difficult question. When an LGBTQ loved one comes out, you may feel as though all that you know is in conflict with your love for that person. Being LGBTQ does not impact a person’s ability to be moral and spiritual, and indeed many LGBTQ people are religious and active in their own faith communities. This can be a good time to explore and question in order to reconcile religion with sexual orientation and gender identity, and determine the next best steps for you and your loved one.