Plenty of activities in August will get you swimming, singing along, telling our stories, and rooting for the Padres OUT at the Park. Plus catch recaps of Pride events, a Groovie Movie Revioo and — save the date for AIDS walk 2021
The SD Gay Men’s Chorus To Perform Unmuted! 
This coming Friday, July 30, you will have a chance to tune in to the chorus’s livestreamed concert, Unmuted!. This summer concert is proudly sponsored by Sycuan Casino. The virtual performances are available from 8:00 pm on July 30-August 1. You may go to their website to view via YouTube: sdgmc.org.
Come Out And Cool Off!
PFLAG SDC is excited to be a supporting organization for the LGBTQ+ Youth Swim Time.
Sponsored by South Bay Pride, in conjunction with the San Diego Parks Foundation, the LGBTQ+ swim time allows our Queer youth to swim at their community pools without fear of reproach or violence. This is an exclusive space set aside just for them for two hours every weekend. Some weekends there are two events. It’s a great way for kids to beat the heat at no charge.
Come out one or all and invite your friends. All are welcomed. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to PFLAG SDC South Bay Regional Director Nadia Kean-Ayub at nkean-ayub@pflag.com
Our Stories, Our Voices Festival
The Our Stories, Our Voices festival celebrates queer mental health stories told by LGBTQ+ filmmakers and artists and is taking place August 10 to August 12. Artist-led workshops will pair film and community dialogue to explore the diversity of mental health experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community, touching on queer identity, coming out, gender performance, intersectionality, and so much more. The festival has two sessions each day. The events are free and open to the public. For more information and to register, go to https://artwithimpact.org/our-
OUT at the Park ⚾️
San Diego Pride is teaming up with the San Diego Padres for OUT at the Park on Friday, August 20 at Petco Park. The game against the Philadelphia Phillies begins at 7:10 pm; however, there are lots of festivities before that. The pre-game “Tailgate party” happy hour (from 5:00-7:00 pm) is in SD Pride’s VIP space in Gallagher Square (formerly Park in the Park). Food and drinks are not included.
The well-worth-it price of $25* also includes a seat in Pride’s OUT at the Park section, a commemorative OUT at the Park Padres hat, and $5 donation to San Diego Pride. (*With service charge and handling fee, the cost is $30+ per ticket.)
You can purchase tickets at www.padres.com/pride.
South Bay Pride Art & Music Festival
The South Bay Pride Art & Music Festival begins at noon on Saturday, August 21 from 11am to 9pm. A family-oriented Pride event, South Bay PRIDE features two musical stages, DJs, dancing, children’s entertainment, great food, artists, over 150 vendors, local resources, and more. If you would like to be a vendor, please sign up at: https://southbaypride.org/
This year the festival will be at Bayfront Park, 980 Marina Way, directly west of the I5 and J st exit.
PFLAG SDC Scholarship Recipients!
On June 5, PFLAG San Diego County proudly awarded 14 college or college-bound students with scholarships ranging from $2000-3000. At the time of our last newsletter we didn’t have all the photos of the recipients, so here they are:
First Row: Elizabeth Granados Johnson/Mary Wagner Memorial Scholarship, Hafeez Merali/John Bessemer Memorial Scholarship, Aranzazu Salgado-Gutierrez/Rob Benzon Memorial Scholarship, Halle Schaffer/Stephen G. Bowersox Memorial Scholarship. Second Row: Sofia Alcocer/Raytheon STEM Scholarship, Sinai Cota/Kendall Family Memorial Scholarship, Danny Tran Ho/Qualcomm STEM/Merit Scholarship, Taylor Vassar/Qualcomm STEM/Merit Scholarship. Third Row: Sean Compas/M. Lynne Austin Memorial Scholarship, Derrick Herrera/Daniel J. Ferbal Memorial Scholarship, Jose Mendez Entrekin/Gary A. Marcus Scholarship for the Fine & Applied Arts, Aaron Bautista/Bill Hanson Community Scholarship. Fourth Row: Jay Schmidt/ Bill Hanson Community Scholarship, kelechi agwuncha/PFLAG SDC Merit Scholarship.
You may view their biographies at www.pflag.com/scholarships. Each biography has a link to their awarding winning essay. If you would like the link to view the scholarship presentation, please contact scholarships@pflag.com.
Every donation made to the Scholarship Fund is deeply appreciated. It is never too late or early to donate: www.pflag.com/support-our-
Pride Family Gathering a Success
We hope a San Diego Pride tradition was born with the success of this event. This was a marvelous way to bring rainbow families together to learn, enjoy Drag Queen Story Time (thank you, Rosa Linda), face painting, clowns, art, dance party, soccer, and lawn games. Great family time! Many booths, including PFLAG San Diego County, also disseminated valuable information.
Mom and Son Duo
Patti and Danny Boman were a big hit as part of SD Pride’s livestreamed celebration. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words! Click picture to go to the TikTok video 
@pflag_san_diego_county #PFLAGSDC #PFLAG #pflagproud #pflagnational #sdpride2021 #pride2021🏳️🌈 #pride #brunomars #acceptance
♬ original sound - PFLAG San Diego
A Groovie Movie Revioo …
By Vicki Luna (She, Her, Hers)
EAT WITH ME (2015)
A very sweet story of a guy and his mom. She comes to stay with him unannounced because of friction at home with her husband/dad. Her visit turns out to be quite an eye-opener as she discovers new things about her only offspring and herself. Her navigation through it all is to be commended despite her confusion and disbelief. I love this short flick because I think a lot of us PFLAG moms could have been Emma. I wanted to tell her about PFLAG! Her honesty and willingness to grow and learn because she loves her son most certainly resonates with me and I know it will for a lot of us. I’m also so intrigued by the cooking theme as a main premise — not because I’m a cook but because of the way the connection of good food and family ties is orchestrated throughout and is very warming. And just as an FYI, even if you’ve already eaten you will be wanting dumplings soooo badly by the end of this film!
Starring Sharon Omi, Edward Chen, Nicole Sullivan and George Takei!
Directed by David Au N/R but I would say it’s a bit racy…maybe a PG16. And there is some drug use. It can be seen on Amazon Prime.
AIDS Walk/Run San Diego 2021. The Yellow Sneakers Are Back!
AIDS Walk & Run San Diego 2021 is on! After a challenging 2020, the LGBT Community Center is planning for a much different event.
This year, participants will be able to once again walk or run the traditional AIDS Walk San Diego route or their own route between September 23-September 26. The Center is planning a new, in-person celebration/festival for all participants on Saturday, September 25. This will include a stage program at The Center featuring many elements that the community has come to love over the past 32 years. More details will appear in the September newsletter.
The AIDS Walk is San Diego’s largest HIV/AIDS fundraiser and the biggest non-governmental financial provider for HIV/AIDS in San Diego County. Dozens of agencies, serving thousands of clients, rely on funds raised at the annual Walk/Run to help provide essential prevention and care programs to thousands of men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS. Our visible support for this event shows people living with HIV that they are not alone.
How do I register to be part of Team PFLAG San Diego County you ask? Please visit aidswalksd.org, click on Register, Join a Team, fill in PFLAG San Diego County, and you are ready to register! The registration fee is $45.00 for all participants (there was an increase due to the revenue lost in 2020). There is also a place to make a donation if you wish. Any participant who raises $100+, which includes the registration fee, will receive an AIDS Walk and Run t-shirt. Closer to the event date we can make a group decision when to gather and walk as a team.
If we reach $1,000 or 10 registered participants by Monday, September 20, we will once again receive the prestigious yellow sneaker, proudly displaying PFLAG San Diego County.
Support Groups
❗️Note: some support group information has changed since last month
Most individual support groups will continue to meet virtually, as well as the monthly virtual Countywide Support Group meeting. Check individual group for details. We encourage you to contact your support group facilitator at any time, as they will remain excellent resources for information. The support group locations, dates, and times will continue to be posted on the PFLAG San Diego County Facebook page. You can join in any of the digital meetings. For Zoom links, contact each support group.
Do You Shop On Amazon?
If you have an account with Amazon, you can help our chapter every time you shop. Go to smile.Amazon.com and search for PFLAG San Diego County. For every purchase, our chapter will receive .05% of the dollar amount of the order. This may not sound like a lot, but it adds up with the more people we have participating. Now that more of us are ordering online than ever due to the pandemic, it’s the perfect time to use Amazon Smile to support PFLAG.
Our Vision
PFLAG envisions a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
Our Mission
By meeting people where they are and collaborating with others, PFLAG realizes its vision through: Support for families, allies and people who are LGBTQ+; Education for ourselves and others about the unique issues and challenges facing people who are LGBTQ+; Advocacy in our communities to change attitudes and create policies and laws that achieve full equality for people who are LGBTQ+.
