07/15/2026
Thank you to those who joined us last night for a celebration and send off! Our president, Jennifer Noricks, reflected on the chapter's accomplishments, thanked those who made our work possible, and offered words of encouragement for the future. Her full speech is below:
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PFLAG Livonia was formed out of love and concern for at-risk youth and their families. As we were laying the groundwork for this chapter, a Livonia mom wrote to us and said: “I spoke to a teacher today at one of my children's schools who said that she was delighted to see that a PFLAG group was being started in Livonia. She said that these days sexuality is on the kids' radars as young as 5th grade and that it helps to have support in our community.”
Indeed, it was in 2018 that I had begun looking for opportunities to support LGBTQ+ people in Livonia, the place where I live. I investigated several organizations doing that type of work. In the spring of 2019 I posted a public notice asking if anyone in Livonia was interested in starting a local PFLAG chapter. Thirty-two people indicated interest. Twenty of us formed a work group to explore the possibilities. We agreed to start meeting “unofficially” on the second Tuesday of each month. We called ourselves preFLAG. On March 28, 2019 I asked PFLAG National to help us start the process of becoming a chapter. Just a couple weeks later, we met with a representative for the first time. In June, we elected a board and I’ve had the privilege of serving as the president. I’ll talk more about the other board members shortly, but we spent that summer and fall in 2019 laying the groundwork - (the boring, red-tape stuff). The board members watched training videos; read, reviewed, and signed documents; wrote bylaws; and applied for our articles of incorporation. By November of 2019, we were an official chapter.
We quipped that our unofficial mission statement was to support kids who are coming out and their parents who are freaking out. And we did that. We supported each other in navigating challenges unique to the parents of LGBTQ+ kids. We met parents who struggled to advocate for their kids at school. We walked alongside parents who were frightened or grieving or they just couldn’t bring themselves to say their kids’ pronouns and chosen names. Many of those parents would practice saying those names and pronouns at our meetings for a few months, and eventually they would leave us more compassionate, more confident, better equipped to support their kids.
I’ll never forget the dad who went from being unable to say his daughter’s name at the first meeting he attended, to timidly saying it just at our meetings, then saying it at home, then saying it to his friends. Later, he came up with an analogy for his experience that I still share with other parents. He said that when you go scuba diving for the first time, you have to force yourself to breathe underwater. It feels weird but you do it anyway and before long, you start doing it without thinking. He said calling his daughter by her name was like scuba diving. It felt forced at first but after a while, it started to come naturally, and now he can’t imagine calling her by any other name.
PFLAG Livonia had the privilege of walking alongside so many families with beautiful stories like this.
Out of love and concern for our vulnerable neighbors, we collaborated, always with the goal of making a healthier, more whole community. I’d like to read a list of the things we’ve accomplished over the past eight years. Each time I say “we did these things,” I invite you to respond with “out of love.”
We represented PFLAG at community events such as:
A Kiwanis stakeholder meeting
Three Livonia Pride events
Two Parent Fairs hosted by Livonia Public Schools
An Inclusion Round Table hosted by Livonia Chamber of Commerce
We did these things out of love
We hosted:
Approx. 80 monthly support group meetings (and we provided 1:1 peer support to families who needed us between meetings)
Family game night
Family picnic
4 rainbow trunk-or-treats
Mayor Brosnan for a presentation on the Livonia Non-Discrimination Act initiative
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky for a presentation on LGBTQ-related legislation in Michigan
Gender therapist Deanna Heath for a presentation to parents of transgender kids
Corktown Health for a presentation on LGBTQ-focused primary and behavioral health care
Attorney Liza Esqueda gave a presentation on Michigan's legal name change process
I gave a presentation on strategies for finding LGBTQ-affirming faith communities
We did these things out of love
We took on projects such as
Curating a list of LGBTQ-themed books and sharing it with other PFLAG chapters
Giving away free, LGBTQ-themed books to kids in the greater Livonia area
Preparing and publishing a questionnaire for LPS school board candidates, inquiring about their stances on LGBTQ-related issues
We did these things out of love
As for donations, we:
Donated gift baskets to all middle school and high school GSA organizations in Livonia Public Schools
Next week, we’ll be donating the remainder of our funds - over $300 - to the PFLAG Wyandotte chapter to continue the work in the community.
We did these things out of love
And finally, we interacted with over 150 LGBTQ+ families in the greater Livonia area.
We did this out of love
I want to thank the people who have made these things possible:
Kim S. was the first person to say “Yes” when I started talking about PFLAG. We were required to have a treasurer in order to get our articles of incorporation with the state. Kim, you volunteered for the treasurer position and I didn’t realize until much later that you don’t particularly enjoy being a treasurer and managing finances. But you did it, and you’ve done a great job. Together, we learned how to start a non-profit organization and how to dissolve one. You hung in there with me while we tried to figure out the most economical way to get a bank account for a non-profit organization on a small budget. You’ve shared your expertise with us as a public school teacher and have been a steady support to this group.
We met April K. at that first work group meet up. She was an enthusiastic supporter with lots of ideas. April volunteered to be our secretary - another required board position - and she took on the role of handling memberships. Her love of people and her knack for conversation gave energy to our meetings. She served with us through July of last year and we are grateful for the time she spent with us.
Laura O. joined us later in the game. When we said we were looking for new leaders to join our board, Laura said, “Just let me know what you need” and she has proven time and time again that she meant that. We appreciate you jumping on board at the end Laura, sharing your input, talking openly about your experiences that brought you to PFLAG, and faithfully supporting our efforts.
Debbie Y. came to our first work group meeting and said she didn’t want an official board position, since she was already doing significant volunteer work with at least one other organization. Your name didn’t go on any official paperwork with the state, but truly, you have worked just as hard as anyone to make this chapter what it is. Thank you for using your gift of connection to help us form partnerships in the community; for using your creative talents to design flyers and compose public announcements. The book giveaways at trunk-or-treat were Debbie’s idea. She singlehandedly raised the funds for that project every year and chose the books with such care and attention.
Thank you to all of you for your service.
Lots of other people helped us do what we did. Thank you to the crafters who donated items for our fundraising efforts; to Kelly, who helped us with decorations for our family picnic; to Amanda who committed to lending her presence to the meetings five months in a row when I attended an evening class. I also want to thank Pastor JoAnn at Devon Aire Community Church for quickly volunteering the use of their meeting space when I said I was thinking about forming a PFLAG chapter. Devon Aire and Newburg United Methodist Church both have provided us with facilities free of charge. Thank you to Ali B. at Newburg who helped us set up that arrangement. Also, Newburg asked us to buy event insurance to host trunk or treat here, then they gave us a grant that paid not only for the insurance, but for the entire event and publicity items we’ve been able to use multiple times since then. Thank you, Newburg! Also thank you to St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church that allowed us to host one of our trunk-or-treats there, also free of charge.
I’ll take a point of privilege here to thank my spouse and my kids for their support. They have hauled and lifted things. They’ve put up with bins and PFLAG signs being stored in our garage or in the trunk of my car. They’ve worked at events, brought me food, and taken care of me in countless ways so that I could serve PFLAG. I can never thank them enough for supporting me in a space where I can be fully me.
Most importantly, thank you to the people who trusted us in some of your family’s most vulnerable moments. Thank you for letting us sit with you and support you, and for doing the same for each of us. It has been my greatest privilege to build community with you, and to share those tender moments that I hope will positively impact your families for the rest of your lives.
I’ll close with this:
In dark and difficult times - when vulnerable people are being targeted and it seems as though injustice is winning - remember the power of love. We saw that in what it did here. During the pandemic, the TV show Schitt’s Creek swept the Emmy awards. It was a show about people who became less self-centered, who learned to prioritize showing love for others. People were hungry for stories about love. Recently, people can’t get enough of Heated Rivalry - a show about people learning to love and accept themselves, to allow themselves to be loved and accepted by others, and be bold in showing their love for others. We are desperate to see love at work in the world. Those shows are fictional, but love is real, and we have the power to create real transformation that happens when we do things out of love.
PFLAG Livonia brought attention to the needs of LGBTQ+ folks living in our area. New organizations have now formed to meet some of those needs. PFLAG Livonia is leaving the community better than we found it, but there is still work to be done. Tonight, we say goodbye. Tomorrow, we pause to take a breath, to rest in the knowledge that we have been part of something significant. As time passes and our energy is replenished, may we be open to seeing the needs around us, and to go where love leads us next.
Thank you.
