PFLAG Cambridge - Wisconsin

09/01/2026

Hold space for each other.

We are heartbroken by the loss of Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, who were shot and killed outside Venture-N, a longtime LGBTQ+ bar in Tucson, Arizona.

We are holding space for their families and friends, for everyone at Venture-N, and for Tucson’s LGBTQ+ community as they grieve this devastating loss.

Police are investigating the killings as a hate crime. The suspected shooter, 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay, is dead, and police say there is no indication of an ongoing threat.

But what investigators found afterward is especially chilling.

Police say Ceesay was carrying a note containing the names of several LGBTQ+-associated businesses in Tucson. Mayor Regina Romero said investigators believe he intended to cause additional harm.

For more than 40 years, Venture-N has been a gathering place for Tucson’s LGBTQ+ community — a place where people could find friendship, chosen family, belonging and community.

LGBTQ+ spaces have always been about more than bars, clubs, bookstores and community centers. They are places where people who have sometimes been rejected by families, churches and communities can walk through the door and know they belong.

No one should have to wonder whether being visibly LGBTQ+, gathering with other LGBTQ+ people, or walking into a place flying a rainbow flag might make them a target.

To our LGBTQ+ family in Tucson and everywhere: We see you. We love you. We stand with you.

And we will continue working toward a world where LGBTQ+ people can gather, celebrate, love and simply live their lives without fear. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

07/16/2026

Beautiful article. Anti-trans legislation hurts all girls and women.

“Even if I had not become a professional athlete, my life would have been dramatically different without the joys, friendships, and life lessons that came with playing sports. Every girl deserves to have that experience, and no girl deserves to be discriminated against. That’s why all girls, including trans girls, should be able to play with their classmates in the sports they love.

“If we really cared about safety and fairness in sports, we’d be breaking down barriers facing girls at every level, protecting them from s*xual violence and harassment, and paying professional women athletes on the same scale as their male counterparts.

“Standing up for our trans siblings and welcoming them on the field sends a powerful message to these politicians that we reject their hate and division—and to keep their hands off of our bodies.”

Read Megan Rapinoe’s full op-ed: https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/megan-rapinoe-op-ed-supreme-court-ruling-transgender-athletes/

07/14/2026

Non-binary people’s day!

Happy International Non-Binary People's Day! 💛🤍💜🖤

Today, we celebrate all the beautiful ways there are to be human and everyone who exists beyond the binary.

Here's to living beyond the expectations of who the world says you should be. 🫶

07/11/2026

2026 Be Seen Awards!

Four trailblazers are being recognized for advancing LGBTQ visibility, history, and community across Wisconsin.

Read here: https://ourliveswisconsin.com/article/wisconsin-lgbtq-history-project-announces-2026-beseen-award-honorees/

06/26/2026

In 1972 she publicly supported her son. In 1973 one of the nation’s largest and oldest organizations supporting LGBTQIA folks and their allies was born.

Today we honor Jeanne Manford, whose love for her son helped change the world.

On June 25, 1972, Jeanne marched beside her gay son, Morty, in New York’s Christopher Street Liberation Day March carrying a simple but revolutionary sign:

“Parents of G**s: Unite in Support for Our Children.”

At a time when most parents stayed silent, Jeanne chose to stand beside her son publicly. During the march, countless LGBTQ+ people approached her, asking, “Will you talk to my parents?”

Those conversations inspired Jeanne to help found PFLAG the following year, creating a place where parents could learn, grow, and stand with their LGBTQ+ children.

More than 50 years later, Jeanne’s legacy lives on.

Every parent who chooses love over fear…

Every mom or dad who marches at Pride…

Every family that speaks up for equality…

Every Mama Bear who wraps an LGBTQ+ person in unconditional love…

…is walking a path Jeanne helped create.

At Real Mama Bears, we are grateful to follow in the footsteps of courageous parents like Jeanne Manford, who showed us that a parent’s love can be a powerful force for change.

Thank you, Jeanne.

May we continue to lead with love, protect with courage, and show up for every LGBTQ+ person who needs to know they are deeply loved.

Together we can change the world.
🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

06/25/2026

History of the Pride flag. The original flags from 1978 looked different.

TW on the swear words. James Fell is an historian who uses swears.

Jim Parsons is an openly gay man who played the character Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon had a web show within the show called Fun with Flags where he analyzed the history and symbolism of various flags, from Bavaria to Nebraska to Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets. But he did not cover the vexillology of the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag, so let’s have some fun.

--On This Day in History S**t Went Down: June 25, 1978--

A symbol of pride and social movements, the rainbow flag originated in San Francisco, making its first appearance at the city’s Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. It was designed by Gilbert Baker, a gay man and civil rights activist. He was tasked with making the flag by Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Prior to 1978, the symbol for the LGBTQ+ movement was an inverted pink triangle, but this had significant negative connotations, what with it being designed by fu***ng N***s to identify and persecute homos*xuals. Although it had been reclaimed as a symbol of pride in the face of homophobia, Milk still wanted something uniquely their own.

One rumor proclaims Baker was inspired by Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz, as Garland was one of the first gay icons. Another hypothesis states he borrowed from the World Peace Association’s multicolored Brotherhood flag.

Baker’s original design was eight-colored: hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet. The colors represented, respectively: s*x, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic/art, serenity, spirit. Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched two flags for the parade.

Five months later, Harvey Milk was assassinated; demand for the flag grew. Hot pink was dropped because of lack of availability of that fabric color. A year later, turquoise and indigo were merged into a single royal blue to make a six-stripe flag that remains most popular, although numerous other variations have sprung up over the years.

Thirty-seven years and one day later, the White House was illuminated in the colors of the rainbow flag to celebrate the federal legalization of gay marriage. And in June 2020, in a historic decision, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 6–3 asserting federal law prevents employers from discriminating against workers for being LGBTQ+.

History should take note that Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas voted on the side of bigotry.

NOTE: This piece was researched and written by a human, not some bu****it "ai" plagiarism software.

Those who cannot remember the past need a history teacher who says “f**k” a lot. Get both volumes of ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY S**T WENT DOWN at JamesFell.com/books.

06/14/2026

Pride month history

06/10/2026

The big ones will help the little ones get over the mountain.

TW for language which is bleeped out.

06/06/2026

Two Spirit Powwow!

For the first time, Two-Spirit people from across the state will gather on powwow grounds not as a category squeezed into binaries, but as the center of the circle. The Wisconsin Two Spirit Pow Wow marks a historic first for WI, and will be held at the Woodland Bowl on the Menominee Reservation. Non-Native people are welcome, but that openness comes with responsibility: Visitors are invited to witness and participate in with respect.

READ MORE: https://ourliveswisconsin.com/article/creating-history-on-june-13-wisconsins-first-two-spirit-powwow/

06/01/2026

Amazing documentary. Please find time to watch. The officer’s words at the end always make me cry.