June Meeting
Our June 11th meeting will feature Finoa Nowling with SOFFA Kansas City.
Fiona Nowling is originally from England and moved to Kansas to marry her wife, Una, a transsexual woman over 14 years ago. Since then, she has led the SOFFA group for four years, spoken at conferences and in schools, co-hosts Trans Talk, an episode of the Tenth Voice on KKFI, sings with Transfinity KC and is on the board of the LGBT employee resource group at McKesson, where she works as a software engineer.
SOFFA (Significant Others, Family, Friends and Allies) of Transgender Persons is a support group for those close to someone who is or feels they may be transgender or transsexual.
The meeting is at Village Presbyterian Church Room 307 at 3:00 PM.
May Meeting, Sunday, May 14th. Potluck at 3:00! Bring a dish to share!
Speaking Out – A Note from our PFLAG KC President:
What a busy time of year! Celebrations of all kinds! Graduations, Mother’s Day and the end of school.
Four years ago, my daughter told me she was gay. Now she is graduating from college on Mother’s Day. To be true to herself, she will be sharing her story with the rest of the family. I pray that the people who will be celebrating her graduation are able to celebrate her courage and accept her for the wonderful, smart, caring, amazing person she is and always will be.
FUN HOME at the Kauffman Theatre
PFLAGKC has an opportunity to offer tickets to the musical FUN HOME at a 30% savings. The dates of the show are May 30-June 4th. Use Code: PFLAGKC at the link below.
https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/theatreleaguekc/EN/link/promotion/home
Every once in a while a Broadway musical comes along that surprises, moves and excites audiences in ways only a truly landmark musical can. The “groundbreaking” “uplifting” and “exquisite” new musical Fun Home was the event of the Broadway season, receiving raves from critics and audiences alike, winning five 2015 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and making history along the way. Based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling graphic memoir, Fun Home introduces us to Alison at three different ages, as she explores and unravels the many mysteries of her childhood. A refreshingly honest musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes, “Fun Home is extraordinary, a rare beauty that pumps fresh air into Broadway.” (New York Times)
Speaking Out – A Note from PFLAG-KC President
I had the pleasure of attending the Heartland Men’s Chorus for their presentation of Identify. The inspiration for this performance is the story of Tyler Clementi, an 18-year old, extremely talented and gifted freshman at Rutger’s University, who committed suicide in 2010 after he became a victim of a horrible act of cyberbullying because he was gay. The evening opened with an excellent panel discussion which included Tyler’s mother, Jane Clementi, Morgana Bailey, Debi Jackson, Barb Mares, Andy Scherman and Mitch Weber. And then the concert began. Tyler’s Suite was beautiful! Songs of talent, songs of family, songs of hope and songs of love. And heart wrenching! If you are suffering from bullying, there is support available to you. There is support available to LGBTQ individuals during their coming out process. And there is suicide prevention available! Jane Clementi said the stickers she had available were Tyler’s initials in gold to represent the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Wikipedia also lists: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (positive or directive form). One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form). What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathic or responsive form). Not one of these definitions include hate. There is no place for hate. Jane Clementi said parents of LGBT children need to speak openly of the love they have for their children to impact the world around them and create accepting environments. So I will. My daughter is a beautiful, smart, caring, and loving woman. When she grows up she should be allowed to marry the person she loves. And I love her.
After the powerful concert and hearing Tyler’s story, I am even more committed to providing support to the LGBTQ community. PFLAG provides support for LGBTQ individuals during their coming out process. PFLAG supports families and friends of LGBTQ individuals. And, PFLAG will help you find whatever kind of help you need! Please reach out for help.
- American Foundation for suicide Prevention www.afsp.org
- GLSEN www.glsen.org
- It Gets Better Project www.itgetsbetter.org
- Kansas City Anti-Violence Project www.kcavp.org
- LikeMeLighthouse www.likemelighthouse.org
- The Trevor Project www.thetrevorproject.org
- The Tyler Clementi Foundation www.tylerclementi.org