As a result of the Coronavirus Stay At Home Order, we will now be holding virtual PFLAG meetings supported by an easy-to-use online meeting tool called Zoom. CLICK HERE to get set-up with Zoom.
Join us for our regular monthly meeting welcoming the entire spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community, friends, families, and allies for support and education. Our regular support group will follow the education portion.
Please RSVP to info@pflagmanhattanbeach.org
EDUCATION PORTION:
Healing from the Trauma Inflicted by Conversion Therapy
with Curtis Galloway (he/him/his)
This meeting's focus:
Curtis Galloway will share his harrowing story of conversion therapy in the midwest and how it has shaped his entire life. After 10 years, Curtis still feels the effects of conversion therapy but has shifted his pain into action. He has become an activist for the banning of conversion therapy; testifying for the ban in Illinois, founding his own organization, and mending his relationship with his parents. Curtis wishes to use his experience to light the way for other survivors to find their healing from the trauma inflicted by conversion therapy.
About our presenter:
Curtis Galloway grew up in a small town in Southern Illinois. When he was 16 years old he was subjected to conversion therapy; an experience he was later able to use to ban conversion therapy in his home State. Curtis went on to be a leading figure in many LGBTQ+ organizations in the Midwest. Now living in L.A., Curtis has taken his activism to the next level and founded the Conversion Therapy Dropout Network to bring survivors of conversion therapy together in community and solidarity.
A NOTE ABOUT VIRTUAL MEETINGS:
We will be utilizing Zoom features that provide the highest level of safety and confidentiality possible. Zoom is free to you and you need not have an account to join us. If you are new to Zoom, you can follow the links [here] for brief tutorials on all you need to know to sign on to a Zoom meeting with us. We ask that each of you that would like to participate in the on-line support, contact us in advance by email at info@pflagmanhattanbeach.org to RSVP for the meeting. We will cut off RSVPs at 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. All participants will receive a follow-up email with the link to the Zoom call and a password. For confidentiality’s sake, please do not forward these to another participant — they are welcome to contact us directly to receive the link.
We recognize that youth may be interested in the educational part of this meeting and they are welcome to join us. As usual, we ask that youth who may want to stick around for our support groups be joined by a parent. Some heavy emotions can emerge in the course of our sessions and having a parent on-hand helps to ensure that the needs of any youth on the call are met.
There are some benefits to utilizing new tools like Zoom. We recognize that our typical evening support group meetings are not feasible for everyone due to work, family or other demands. If there is a need, we would like to offer an additional support group Zoom conference call sometime during the daytime hours. If you are interested in a daytime support group, email us at info@pflagmanhattanbeach.org and let us know what times might be more workable for you.
If you need more personalized assistance and support, we remain here for you. Email us confidentially and we will work with you to identify the best member of our team to assist with your individual needs.