Join us for our regular monthly meeting welcoming the entire spectrum of LGBTQ+ community, friends, families, and allies for education, rich conversation, and supportive community.
Our PFLAG general support meetings will be held both IN PERSON and VIA ZOOM.
Virtual meeting attendees still require RSVP. If you are new to Zoom, CLICK HERE to get set-up.
Please RSVP to rsvp@pflagmanhattanbeach.org
SCHOOL BASED ADVOCACY FOR LGBTQ+ STUDENTS WITH EQUALITY CALIFORNIA
with Erin Arendse (she/they) and Sunitha Menon (she/her)
Erin and Sunitha will speak with the group about the ways in which school-based advocacy for LGBTQ+ students has shifted and the strategies Equality California has put in place to support those students. Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide civil justice organization. We’re also California’s only LGBTQ+ civil rights organization working at the local, state, and national levels. In the past year we’ve had a huge increase in the number of requests from parents, students, and teachers for us to speak out against policies that put the health and mental health of LGBTQ+ students at risk - from banning pride flags to forced outing policies, Equality California is working hard to ensure the safety of all LGBTQ+ students in schools. During today’s conversation, we discuss the different ways we’re addressing these issues, from our programmatic work to our community advocacy. We’ll also discuss the ways in which you all can safely participate in school board meetings and other advocacy efforts. We’ll ensure there is time for question and answers and will modify our discussion based on your needs.
About our Presenters:
Erin Arendse (she/they) is the Program Director at Equality California, leading the organization's programs aimed at reducing disparities in LGBTQ+ health and well-being, empowering LGBTQ+ leaders, and increasing civic participation within the LGBTQ+ community. She also oversees the organization's grants fundraising strategy. Prior to joining Equality California, she was the Senior Manager for Grants and Compliance at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and worked as a freelance and volunteer grant writer for a number of organizations.
Sunitha Menon (she/her) is the Managing Director of Operations of Equality California and Silver State Equality. She is responsible for setting a vision for and leading the organization’s human resources, talent management, development, and programmatic functions. As a first-generation queer person of color, Sunitha has seen how inequalities and discrimination have affected the health, safety, and well-being of marginalized communities. She has spent her career working to support these communities and address inequalities through direct action, support services, and education.
Find Equality California Online HERE
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 rsvp@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 ask that youth who may want to join for our support groups to please 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.