Jeanne Manford, who in 1973 decided to march beside her gay son in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March (later known as the New York Gay Pride parade) and went on to found PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), died this week at her Daly City home. She was 92. Manford, who was a New York City schoolteacher back in the 70s, carried a sign in that early Pride parade that said "Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children."

Manford became an activist by accident after her gay son Morty was beaten up in April 1972 and New York police failed to respond to the incident. She wrote a letter that was published in the New York Post (it used to be a liberal paper, not a conservative tabloid) in which she declared, "I have a homosexual son, and I love him." The letter caused a stir, and in the oral history "Making Gay History" (2002) Manford said, "I didn’t think anything of it, but I guess it was the first time a mother ever sat down and very publicly said, ‘Yes, I have a homosexual son.’ "

She was equally surprised at the response she got for marching in that parade beside Morty. As State Senator Mark Leno tells the Chron, you need to think about this in the perspective of the time, while homosexuality was still listed as a mental illness. "For her to step into the street to declare support for her mentally ill, outlaw son — that was no small act," he said. "But it was what a mother's love does."

Other marchers in the parade embraced her and started asking her if she could please talk to their parents, and that was how PFLAG was born. The first meeting took place in 1973, at the Metropolitan Community Church in Manhattan, and today PFLAG has more than 350 chapters and 200,000 supporters nationwide.

A private burial is being arranged, and PFLAG's National organization is organizing a public memorial in Manford's honor, the details about which will be announced later. Donations in Manford's name can be made to the Manford Legacy Fund.

[NYT]
[Queerty]
[Chron]
[BCN/Appeal]