☘️ Feeling Lucky PFLAG is In Your Corner?
Friend, PFLAG San Diego County has been in your corner for the last 40 years. That’s a long time! We hope you feel lucky we are here for you and that you’ll support us in turn with your membership.
PFLAG SDC members attend support groups, write letters, advocate, attend meetings, and support our LGBTQ+ loved ones. When you join PFLAG at the local level, a portion of your membership also goes to PFLAG National, which offers a wealth of resources.
Our scholarship program is thriving, and in 2023 we awarded more than $50,000 to LGBTQ+ students. We are now accepting applications for the 2024 scholarships (see article and link below).
Please join as a new member or renew your membership today. You can do this from our website atwww.pflagsdc.org/membership/ or send your renewal to PO Box 82762, San Diego, CA 92138.
Don’t Miss The Screening Of Rustin
On February 29, Black Services at The Center, in collaboration with the Fierce Advocacy and Civic Engagement (FACE) Team, is proud to bring you the movie screening of Rustin, followed by a discussion.
The screening takes place in The Center’s auditorium, 3909 Centre Street in Hillcrest from 6-8:00 pm.
Activist Bayard Rustin faced racism and homophobia as he helped change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington. Colman Domingo has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in his portrayal of Bayard Rustin, a queer civil rights activist. Domingo is the first out Black LGBTQ+ person nominated for Best Actor and only the second gay man to earn a nomination for playing a gay character. This is a good ending as we celebrate Black History Month. You will be inspired by the story of Bayard Rustin.
BONUS! Before the screening, if you join The Center for a phonebank event to Get Out the Vote (see voting article below), you will be treated to a free, delicious meal! The phone banking takes place at The Center from 5-6:00 pm.
RSVP: bit.ly/rsvp-rustin
San Diego Pride Art Show
San Diego Pride is extending an invitation to celebrate LGBTQIA+ artists for its first Art Show of 2024! All work is showcased by an amazing and talented group of artists. The art show will continue through March 1 during business hours from 9 am-4 pm at the San Diego Pride Offices, 3620 30th Street, San Diego (North Park).
️ Please Honor Your Civic Duty To Vote!
The LGBT Community Center is a Vote Center for the March 5th California Presidential Primary Election. The Center is located at 3909 Centre Street, Hillcrest.
If you missed registering before the voting deadline, you can register and vote via same-day voter registration.
The Center is officially a Vote Center from March 2-5. Come vote at The Center and receive the iconic rainbow “I Voted” sticker! You can vote or drop off your ballot at any Vote Center location during those dates, BUT you won’t receive this one-of-a-kind sticker!
The Center will be open as a Vote Center on the following dates and times:
March 2-4: 8 am-5 pm
March 5: 7 am-8 pm
North County Coastal Support Group Guest Speaker
PFLAG SDC North County Coastal is thrilled to have a guest speaker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Debra Asper, join the meeting on March 6. She will focus her remarks on systemic issues within the LGBTQ+ community. The meeting is held at Pilgrim UCC in Carlsbad from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
As a Licensed MFT, Debra has worked at Rady Children’s Hospital focusing on assisting children and their families recover from various types of traumas with the use of CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). She devotes a portion of her private practice to work specifically with the LGBTQ+ community. Debra played college basketball at the University of Utah and still loves to be active and be competitive by being a member of the San Diego Rowing Club. She also loves spending time with her wife and daughter, hiking, cooking, and reading. We hope you can join us for this special meeting!
Vaccine Clinic X Game Night
The first Vaccine Clinic and Game Night was such a success that Hillcrest Youth Center is having another one on Friday, March 7, from 3–7:00 pm. The event is open to ages 18-24.
Participants are automatically entered into an opportunity drawing. You get an extra drawing for getting vax’d!*. Prizes include board games, PLUSHIES, arts & crafts supplies, and more. Covid, MPOX, and Flu vaccines are available for 18+.
For more information: hyc@thecentersd.org
Drag Takeover Disney Edition
You won’t want to miss the Disney Edition of Pride by The Beach’s Annual Drag Takeover Benefit Show, taking place on Thursday, March 7, at the Belly Up in Solana Beach. Doors open at 7 pm, show starts at 8.
The show stars Chad Michaels, who was on Ru Paul’s Drag Race All-Star Season 1. This is Pride by The Beach’s major fundraiser to keep their Festival free. Don’t dilly! This Drag show attracts a capacity crowd of 500 attendees and sells out each year.
️Tiger’s Pictionary Benefit Fundraiser for PFLAG SDC (RESCHEDULED!)
Due to inclement weather on February 6, the PFLAG SDC fundraiser was postponed until Tuesday, March 12 from 7:30-10:30 pm. Please re-mark your calendars and join us for Tiger’s Pictionary at Number One Fifth Avenue, 3845 Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest, for a FUNraiser hosted by Sister Ida Know.
Tiger’s Pictionary is a fun Pictionary game with a few twists and is hosted every Tuesday night. Players may purchase raffle tickets that give them a chance to win prizes donated by local businesses and organizations that are raffled off by Sister Ida Know every 15 minutes. Part of the fun is that there are no teams, and when someone correctly guesses a clue, they also receive a free ticket for the raffle. The funds raised go to support a different nonprofit in the San Diego LGBTQ+ community every week. Over the past 12 years, Tiger’s Pictionary has raised over $100,000, and March 12 is PFLAG San Diego County’s night!
Please donate a prize for the raffle and/or come down to play Tiger’s Pictionary with us. Suggestions for raffle prizes include gift certificates for restaurants, hair salons, movies, board games, or other fun prizes. For questions, please contact admin@pflagsdc.org. We hope to see you there!
Time Is Running Out to Apply For PFLAG SDC 2024 Scholarships
There are a couple of weeks left until the scholarship deadline of March 15. Please share on social media!
We are proud that we are celebrating our 26th year of offering scholarships to LGBTQ+ students who reside in San Diego County.
There is still time to spread the word to LGBTQ+ high school seniors and full-time undergraduate/graduate students to apply for PFLAG scholarships. A minimum of 18 scholarships will be awarded in amounts of $2,000 or more. Besides general academic scholarships, we award scholarships in specific areas of study: STEM, Fine and Applied Arts, LGBTQ+ Studies or history, community college, and vocational programs.
The application, requirements, and other scholarship-related info are on our website: www.pflagsdc.org/scholarships/. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2024.
Our goal is to maximize the amounts of scholarships and to award more scholarships. You may donate any time: pflagsdc.org/support-our-students and either donate to the General Scholarship Fund or a specific scholarship. There is also an option for monthly donations.
We are maintaining our commitment that 100% of funds donated for scholarships goes to students. All donations are 100% tax deductible (tax ID# 33-0512868). For 2023, we awarded a record 21 scholarships totaling $56,000.
The scholarship ceremony will take place in person on June 8, 2024.
For questions, contact scholarships@pflagsdc.org
SD Pride Transgender Student Scholarship
San Diego Pride is now accepting applications for the Tracie Jada O’Brien Transgender Student Scholarship! As many of our readers know, Tracie Jada O’Brien is a living legend in San Diego County, always advocating for the Transgender Community.
You may apply if:
– you are located in San Diego County
– are transgender or outside the gender binary
– a student enrolled in a 2-4 year institution of higher education, technical/vocational school, or graduate school
The application deadline is Thursday, March 21, 2024.
Apply at sdpride.org/tdoe/
️ PFLAG SDC March Book Club
The next selection for the PFLAG SDC Book Club will be Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, in honor of Black History Month. We’ll meet Tuesday, March 26, 7-8:15 p.m. on Zoom for a discussion moderated by newsletter editor Louise Julig. You must register separately for each book club meeting. Use the link below to register.
Giovanni’s Room is the second novel by acclaimed Black queer author James Baldwin. Published in 1956, it was written well before the gay rights era, and caused controversy at the time due to its homoerotic content.
We are proud to partner with Libélula Books and Co., a local queer-owned, Latinx-owned, Indigenous-owned independent bookstore at 950 South 26th Street in Barrio Logan. Check out the in-person location or buy the book through Libelula’s Bookshop.org store. If audiobooks are more your thing, check out the indie-supporting Libro.fm.
Click here for a complete list of previous PFLAG SDC Book Club selections.
VIDA LGBTQ Latinx Scholarship
Mark your calendars! You may apply April 1, 2024 for VIDA Community scholarships, vida.community. This is VIDA’s 5th Annual LGBTQ Latinx Scholarships, and they will be awarding three $1000 scholarships. VIDA is about building collaborations (not walls) with Mexico, therefore, students who live in Tijuana, BC, MX are encouraged to apply.
You may apply if:
— you are located in San Diego County or Tijuana
— must be Latinx and LGBTQ
–attend a technical/vocational school, 4-year university, or graduate program
–must be present to receive a scholarship at the awards luncheon
To date, VIDA has awarded $11,000 in scholarships. With the cost of education being out of control, VIDA’s goal is to help those students who are creating positive change in the world. VIDA means LIFE!
️⚧️ Trans Day Of Empowerment
San Diego Pride has announced April 5 is Trans Day of Empowerment (TDOE) 2024!
You are invited for a night of entertainment, food, fun, and empowering our transgender community through the voices of our youth and our elders. The event will be held in The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s auditorium, 3909 Centre Street, Hillcrest at 6:00 pm.
Happy Anniversary South Bay Youth Center!
South Bay Youth Center is celebrating its Five-year Anniversary on Saturday, April 6. You are invited to join in the celebration as they honor the folxs who helped them get started and to reaffirm SBYC’s commitment to strengthen the support for all LGBTQ+ youth in the South Bay. All ages are welcome. South Bay Youth Center, 1180 3rd Avenue, c1, Chula Vista from 10 am – noon.
⚾️ Take Me Out to the Ball Game!
Since tickets sell like hotcakes, it’s not too early to get yours for OUT at the Park on Friday, April 19.
Every year, San Diego Pride partners with the Padres in celebrating OUT at the Park at Petco Park. It’s an evening of friends, family, and rainbows as the LGBTQ+ comes for a night of fun and festivities. The Padres host the Blue Jays at 6:40 pm, but the festivities start well before that. Starting at 4:30 pm, there’s a pregame happy hour in Gallagher Square with Party in the Park (no host). Your ticket purchase includes a ticket to the game, a commemorative Out at the Park Padres hat, and a $10 donation to San Diego Pride. From anyone who has attended in previous years, fans will tell you that the hat is worth the ticket price!
To sit in the stands with the LGBTQ+ community, tickets may be purchased at: https://www.mlb.com/padres/tickets/specials/out-at-the-park. To purchase 10 or more tickets, email Logan Washburn at lwashburn@padres.com.
Come As You Are Every Monday!
Every Monday, the North County LGBTQ Resource Center hosts CAYA — Come as You Are, the Trans, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex Support Group, Mondays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm.
Whether you wish to attend in person or via Zoom, they have you covered!
The North County Resource Center is located at 3220 Mission Avenue, Suite #2, in Oceanside.
Campers And Camp Counselors Needed
We have been asked by The Laurel Foundation to assist in finding volunteer counselors for their summer camps. The camps are free and very needed for trans and gender diverse youth (Camp Mulberry held in San Bernardino National Forest) and youth affected by HIV & AIDS (Camp Laurel held at Cal State Northridge). Training is offered the day before each camp begins.
The camp sessions strive to empower the youth, teaching them important life skills that will help them to build productive, successful lives.
Whether you are interested in becoming a counselor or want to send your child to one of these camps, contact https://laurel-foundation.org/.
PFLAG SDC board member David Milroy attended Southwest College’s LGBTQ+ event, “Pride Brunch with US” on February 6th, presented by the college’s Office of Student Equity Programs and Services. About 40 students attended the brunch, one in a regular series that is held to build community. David spoke for a few minutes about PFLAG SDC’s mission and scholarships. As a previous instructor at SWCC, he suggested they work through SDICCA (SD/Imperial Counties Community College Association) which connects all community colleges in San Diego and Imperial Counties.
A Delicious Way To Support A PFLAG Ally
Oreo made a splash with its first Super Bowl commercial in 10 years. Before the Super Bowl aired, the National Legal and Policy Center released a video that delivered stinging criticism of the cookie brand over its longtime partnership with PFLAG. It claims PFLAG “grooms” children as young as 3 years old and promotes “banned books” in partnership with the “Marxist-led American Library Association.” All this to corrupt children and “turn them gay.”
At its next shareholders’ meeting in May, the NLPC is campaigning to highlight the cookie-maker’s inappropriate relationship with PFLAG after it noticed the brand’s social media was heavily populated with posts in support of PFLAG’s various narratives, causes, and social advocacy. (For more on the NLPC’s campaign against Oreo and PFLAG, see https://nlpc.org/oreo/. Content Warning: Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric throughout.)
The National Legal and Policy Center, along with other anti-LGBTQ+ repressive groups such as One Million Moms, has led attacks on “gay Oreos” because the brand posted a Pride Month tweet saying “Proudly Support Love!” Another meltdown happened when Nabisco produced an ad during Pride Month featuring a daughter visiting her ultimately accepting parents with her female partner. The ad included the tagline, “In proud partnership with PFLAG.”
PFLAG is proud of Nabisco’s out-loud support of our organization and its inclusive values through the Oreo brand. You can support our ally by reposting pro-LGBTQ+ Oreo posts, and—deliciously—by buying and eating Oreos!
Stand With The Banned In Florida
PEN America, Penguin Random House, and a diverse group of authors have joined with parents and students in Escambia County, Florida, to file a federal lawsuit challenging removals and restrictions of books from school libraries that violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.
In September 2022, a teacher in one of the district schools filed challenges to over 100 book titles requesting their removal from school libraries. The district responded by moving these challenged books to “restricted” areas, where students may not peruse them or check them out without first receiving parental permission. Over the ensuing eight months District leaders voted to permanently remove 10 books from school libraries, in many cases overriding the recommendation of district review committees formed to evaluate them. Nearly 200 books have been targeted in the district in the past year, and as of the time of filing, publicly available data indicates more than 65% remain restricted indefinitely, requiring specific parental permission, across elementary, middle, and high schools.
An overwhelming number of the books being banned in Escambia County are by and about people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, including the recent PFLAG SDC Book Club selection All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson, one of the author plaintiffs. (Many of these books are also ones the National Legal and Policy Center, mentioned above, also opposes.)
Please add your name to a letter of support standing with PEN America and the other plaintiffs against book removals and restrictions in Florida and elsewhere.
Don’t Miss Out On A PFLAG T-shirt!
Order your PFLAG SDC t-shirt now. They are $10, and there are a limited quantity. To reserve a PFLAG SDC t-shirt, please email your name and size to admin@pflagsdc.org.
Thank You To Our Donors!
Thanks to the following individuals who donated to the PFLAG SDC General and Scholarship Funds this past month:
Sylvia Hwa
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs
Belinda Long
Mike and Marie Minnick
The Rob Benzon/Dan Ferbal Foundation
Maureen Steiner
Michael Wasilewski and Stephen Miller
Viejas Casino and Resort
Assemblymember Akilah Weber, MD
Jim Ziegler
Thanks to our regular monthly donors to PFLAG San Diego County. A monthly donation helps provide predictable sources of funding for our programs and scholarships, and we appreciate it very much!
Donna and Jim Bowersox
Lonnie Brunini
B Fit by Bryann
Nancy Colbert
Anna Covici
Charles Kaminski
Jesse Muñoz
Maureen Steiner
Terrie Vorono
☎️ 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline Now In Place
The nonprofit that operates the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline launched a pilot program for LGBTQ individuals, veterans, and anyone who feels they may be experiencing a mental health crisis; you may call or text 988.
One of the goals is to dramatically decrease the number of calls made to 911 in the time of crisis, as 911 wasn’t set up to address mental health needs. Please note, this new program does not track your location.
Support Groups
❗️Note: some support group information has changed since last month
Most support groups will continue to meet virtually, but some groups are returning to in-person meetings. 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.
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+.
