Jeanne Manford, Mother of Straight Ally Movement, Honored February 15, 2013
The founder of PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Gay and Lesbians, in 1972, Jeanne Manford, will posthumously receive 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honor in the United States on February 15, 2013 at the White House. The medal is given to those who display “exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens” as Manford did until she died at age 92 on January 8, 2012.
The Presidential medal is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom and will be accepted by her daughter Suzanne Manford Swan who told her mother of the honor before she passed away. Manford was chosen from more than 6,000 nominees and will be honored by President Obama along with twelve other honorees for 2012. Obama in 2009, in a speech called Jeanne’s work “the story of America … of ordinary citizens organizing, agitating, education for change, of hope stronger than hate, of love more powerful than any insult or injury.”
Jody M. Huckaby, National Director of PFLAG, which has over 350 chapters and 200,000 members in the United States, said “all of us – people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual. transgender, and straight allies alike – owe Jeanne our gratitude. She paved the way for us to speak out for what is right, uniting the unique parent, family, and ally voice with the voice of LGBT people everywhere.”
For more information on Jeanne’s activism that started when her gay son Morty was beaten, to her grassroots organization POG (Parents of Gays), the forerunner of PFLAG, see Wesley Davidson’s post “A Stranger’s Death Impacts My Life,” http://www.straightparentgaykid.blogspot.com.
