CHAPTER PRESIDENT'S NOTE
(Kay Heggestad):

     Happy New Year to you all.  Our resolution for this new year is to work on our two new projects.  The first is to talk to our area high schools about the PFLAG scholarship and thus inform the schools about PFLAG at the same time.  Our second is to work on cultivating speakers, developing exciting presentations and then getting ourselves out there to schools and other organizations to talk about our work.  Please let me or any board member know if you are interested in helping with either of these projects.

     STRAIGHT FOR EQUALITY is national’s new major project.  If you have not done so already, PLEASE go to the national web site, www.pflag.org and click on the Straight for Equality information.  We have the booklets that they mention and that you can read on line. This topic is one of those our speakers’ bureau will be presenting.
     If you are not receiving the "PFLAG UPDATE" on line every couple of weeks and would like to, just go to the national site and request it.  It is a nice easy way to keep up on the rest of our organization.  Now, go take that 30 minute run that was your resolution #14. 

American Airlines’ Deal for PFLAG:

Planning a vacation?  Fly on American Airlines and support the preferred airline of PFLAG National. PFLAG national staff gets free miles (and you do NOT lose any bonus miles).
When booking on www.AA.com, follow these instructions:
Step One - Choose your travel dates and your best flight option.
Step Two - Login. (If you have an AAdvantage Number and a password, key it in. If not, click "continue" without logging in.)
Step Three - Confirm your itinerary and complete passenger details
LAST STEP - Important! - Key in PFLAG's Business ExtrAA Account Number (527590).

Book Talk
From Kay Heggestad

New Book: Coming out, Coming in: Nurturing the Well-Being and Inclusion of Gay youth in Mainstream Society (Paperback) by Linda Goldman.  This book features a foreword by PFLAG’s executive director, Jody Huckaby, and provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the issues faced by GLBT youth and their families.

Review by Harriet Bruyn

      At our November PFLAG meeting, Jane LaFlash reported on the long time favorite coming out book for parents, "Now That You Know: What Every Parent Should Know About Homosexuality."  While the book is somewhat dated, basically it is still a very good tool.  Jane has printed her report and pasted it into the inside cover of our chapter's three copies on our library shelf at the Meeting House.  Rather than toss the books because they are aging, we felt there was enough good information in them (with appropriate age disclaimers), to keep them in circulation.... especially since no other title has come along to fully take its place.
   
     Thanks to Kay's road trip to our Northern Plains Region's chapters and meeting with the author, we are now the owners of the book, "God Did TOO Make Adam and Steve" by Denny Smith.  Mr. Smith wrote this book PRIOR to his own son's coming out.  The author, a teacher, coach and motivational speaker, was more than miffed when he learned of an anti-gay rally at which some marchers carried signs bearing the slogan, "God Made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."  Mr. Smith writes an easy to read, logical account of understanding our natural sexual orientation.  He includes chapters on gay marriage and civil unions and equal rights for everyone."

From the National PFLAG Website

It is important to educate your chapter members about what they can do in their PFLAG capacity. Many people do not know the 501(c)3 rules and regulations and might make mistakes without even knowing it. At a chapter meeting, take time to explain what our tax status is and what we can (and cannot) do as a 501(c)3 organization:

• A 501(c)3 is a tax law provision that grants federal tax exemption to non-profit organizations. It also provides a federal tax deduction for those who donate to 501(c)3s.
• As a 501(c)3, your chapter cannot support or oppose any candidate running for any public office, even if the office is non-partisan, whether explicitly or implicitly.

Since most chapters fall under the PFLAG National 501(c)3 umbrella, any chapter that violates the 501(c)3 rules can cause the National organization and all the chapters that fall under it to lose their 501(c)3 tax status.