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W« JUSTOUT COM
APRIL 17 2009
NORTHWEST BRIEFS
Sunday’s symposium begins at 2 p.m.
at Hoffman Hall, on the west side of the
PSU campus (12th Ave. and 1-405 exit).
For more information and directions, visit
www.keepthemseparate.org.
—A. Daniels
PFLAG Launches First
Ever African-American
Chapter
The first Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) chapter
in the country dedicated specifically to
the African-American community will
open with a meeting at Ainsworth United
Church this Saturday. It’s also the second
culturally specific chapter in the country,
following New York City’s PFLAG for
Families of Color.
“Right now, we just want to fill the need,”
said Geri Washington, community orga­
nizer for Black/African-American PFLAG.
Washington was deputy director for the
“No on 9” campaign and is currently a board
member for the Multnomah County Educa­
tion Services District. Her post with Black/
African-American PFLAG is the first paid
position that a local chapter has offered.
The nonprofit hired Washington
through a grant they received from the
McKenzie River Foundation to address
the specific needs of the African-Ameri­
can population. Black/African-American
PFLAG also received a grant from Equity
Foundation and the national PFLAG, and
has reapplied for these grants next year.
“The good thing about what PFLAG
did is that they went back to the old con­
cept of organizing. You have to look like the
community that you’re organizing or else it
won’t work,” said Washington. “The idea
was to identify 10-12 community leaders
and to focus on the faith community.” She’s
been distributing flyers at area churches
and meeting one-on-one with leaders, with
two pastors on board so far.
For Washington, the fight for gay, les­
bian, bi and trans acceptance in the Afri­
can-American community is personal: “My
niece identifies as a lesbian. It’s difficult to
deal with her mom saying ‘not my daugh­
ter, not my daughter.’ Last year my nephew
came out. My brother-in-law is in denial,”
she added. “We can no longer have our
children go through a situation where they
are being denied their true feelings.”
The need for a gay, lesbian, bi and trans
African-American-specific organization is
felt more deeply since Unity Project, the
reincarnation of Brother-to-Brother, went
on hiatus.
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Gerì Washington is the community
organizer for the first PFLAG chapter in
the country dedicated specifically to
African-Americans, which opens with a
meeting April 18 at Portland s Ainsworth
United Church. "We can no longer have
our children go through a situation
where they are being denied their true
feelings."
“We’re going through our issues,” said
Craig Tyson, chair of the Unity Project
board. The organization’s executive director,
Alisa Simmons, resigned and fled the state
in September. She left the group fiscally
devastated and faces charges of embezzle­
ment, theft of property and fraud.
continued on page 10
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Unity Project closed its offices in De­
cember. It has the appearance of being de­
funct—its phone is disconnected, its blog
has never been updated—yet Tyson assured
Just Out that the group is going through a
period of rebuilding: They just hired Cory
Murphy as their director of organizational
development and are in the planning stages
for Black Pride.
“We love PFLAG. We look forward to
working with them in the future,” Tyson said.
Unity Project assisted with the formation of
the Black/African-American PFLAG chap­
ter by helping them fill the outreach posi­
tion. Inger McDowell held the community
advocate post prior to Washington, who was
referred by Basic Rights Oregon.
BRO is among the other organiza­
tions working in partnership with the new
group, along with SMYRC and GLSEN.
Black/African-American PFLAG is also in
contact with Unity Project’s board and has
tapped into their support base.
Black/African-American PFLAG’s in­
augural meeting takes place 10 a.m.-noon
April 18 at Ainsworth United Church, 2941
NE Ainsworth St. For questions or to RSVP,
contact Geri Washington at 503-421-3343
or washington.geri@yahoo.com.
—Adina Lepp
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