Maggie Pazar Member spotlight by Alec Clayton - July/August 2001
Maggie Pazar is a trooper, a selfless and tireless worker in her capacity as Olympia chapter board member and librarian. At every meeting and at every event where PFLAG sets up a table she is there to set up before anybody else arrives, and she stays after everybody else goes home. Maggie searches bookstores and merchants to find the best selections of books, videos, buttons and bumper stickers to constantly update our library. Why does she do so much? “That’s just the kind of person I am,” she said.
Like so many of our members here in the capital city, Maggie is a state worker. She is a secretary at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Maggie joined PFLAG when a loved one, who prefers not to be identified, came out. “When she came out to me I experienced what oppression is,” Maggie said. “I decided nobody should have to live in an oppressive state. As long as there is prejudice there’s going to be oppression, and I don’t think it should be there.”
By the time the loved one decided that she was not gay after all, Maggie was already committed to PFLAG, so she remains as an active member and dedicated ally.
“PFLAG is a place where anybody can be who they are,” she said. “I think that’s important. It’s a sense of family. I believe that a person should be allowed to be who they are and love who they want to love. The person is not who they are on the outside, they’re who they are on the inside. Everything else is just exterior.”
Shortly after Maggie began attending meetings the librarian moved away, and she volunteered to tend the table. Since she was already tending the library table, it was natural for the board to ask her to become a board member and librarian. She doesn’t talk a lot or make herself highly visible, but her bright smile can always be seen behind the table. She said that what she likes most about PFLAG is the Pride parades and the gathering together of friends and family. The next time you see her behind that table, be it at meeting or at a rally in the park, be sure to give her a joyful greeting, and be sure to check out the newest selection of merchandise. There are some great new buttons and bumper stickers.
Mike Walsh Member spotlight by Alec Clayton - May/June 2001
How many Olympia PFLAG members know that the president of our chapter used to be a minister? It certainly came as a surprise to me.
Chapter president Mike Walsh, who now works for Labor and Industries with the State of Washington, was once a pastor with the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, a little-known denomination associated with the historic peace congregation Church of the Brethren. Mike finished his seminary studies in 1971 and served for a number of years as an education and youth minister in Phoenix, Ariz., and North Hollywood, Calif., before coming to Lacey in 1976 to pastor a small congregation for about nine years. He preached his last sermon on Christmas day 1985. “I was bored, burnt out and restless,” he said, explaining his reasons for leaving the ministry. But as we all know, his ministry continues in a less official capacity through his work with PFLAG.
Mike’s daughter Amy came out to him about five years ago. Amy, 27, now lives in Seattle. Around the time Mike was learning of his daughter’s orientation, he began to talk to a co-worker about similar issues. That co-worker, Amory Peck, was active in our chapter at the time (she has since moved to Bellingham and is greatly missed and fondly remembered here). Amory and another friend, Paul Beeman, ganged up on Mike to convince him he should become active in PFLAG. He wasn’t even a member at the time — had never even attended a meeting — and they wanted him to join the board. Amory asked Mike if he would have lunch with her and Paul, and Mike knew he was in trouble. “Nobody can say no to Paul,” Mike said. “They jacked up the stakes and asked me to become president.”
He attended one meeting, “maybe two,” then agreed to serve as chapter president if they could get someone else to serve as co-chair. “I was very nervous at that first meeting,” Mike said. Imagine: going to your very first PFLAG meeting, not knowing anyone and knowing that you’ve been asked to serve as president of the board. As strange as that sounds, we all know that it has worked out marvelously. Mike served as co-chair with Karen Goldsby for one term and is now serving his second term.
When asked what it is about PFLAG that he finds outstanding, Mike said, “Just the marvelous people that I have met and that I find committed to human values that are broader than issues around orientation, all the values that, when push comes to shove, I value — respect, equity, mutual support.”
A valuable lesson Mike said he has learned from PFLAG is to laugh and take less seriously some very important issues, that we can make light of the big issues while still taking them seriously. At PFLAG meetings, he said, “People joke and laugh about things most people tip-toe around.”
Tina Roose Member spotlight by Alec Clayton - March/April 2001
This is a new column that will appear regularly in Heartbeat. We will spotlight a different member in each issue. We begin with Tina Roose, whose energy and enthusiasm has endeared her to Olympia PFLAG since she joined the local chapter in August of 1998 (her first meeting was the picnic that summer).
Tina is Deputy Director for Public Service at the Timberline Regional Library, where she is in charge of all public services in five counties and 27 branch libraries. She describes her job as everything where the library staff interacts with the public. “Sometimes I’ve said my job is putting out fires,” she said. “Another part of it is to make sure fires don’t break out.”
Coming from Chicago, Tina had never before joined PFLAG. In Chicago, she said, there were many gay and lesbian groups, and they were “more narrowly defined, with less cross-fertilization of people.”
“I never thought of PFLAG as a group for me, because there were so many others,” she said. But here it is different. “I like the cross section of people — not just lesbian or not just gay. There’s a different kind of affirmation, a full range of orientation and age. I love it that there are kids and people in their ‘70s. It makes it very rich.”
Dedicated to social justice and civil rights, Tina is actively involved in PFLAG’s “Our House to the School House” safe schools effort, and she has just agreed to serve on the board of the Rainbow Center.
PFLAG holds a special place in Tina’s heart for many reasons, not the least of which is that she met her life partner here. A year ago on Valentine’s Day, Tina and her partner, Teresa Guajardo, were among the first couples in Olympia to sign up with the new Olympia domestic partner registry.
Shirley Pearson March/April 2001
It’s been a blessing for me to participate in the National PFLAG’s Our House to the School House campaign . The board has been very generous in their mentoring and guidance to encourage me in my role of chairperson. As the chair, I want to share the progress of the committee with you. We have formed three teams, and each team has agreed to meet with one of the three school district superintendents and use the assessment tool to help schools determine what they are doing well to promote the safety of gay students, as well as what could be improved. Our goal is to form a partnership with each district by offering PFLAG as a resource to provide education, information and support to their counselors, faculty and staff. After taking the first step by completing the assessment with the superintendents, we will broaden our scope to include principals, counselors and staff. Each time the assessment is completed the awareness of the issue will be elevated another level, and any progress, no matter how small, is welcome.
I find our efforts very timely with other things happening in the community. The North Thurston School District has formed a Guidance and Advisory Council to address the needs of all students, not only educationally, but socially. And GLBT issues will be addressed. Another positive impact to awareness is the anti-bullying bill introduced in the legislature this session. My hope is that we will all embrace and cherish the good that is accomplished with these efforts and continue to build upon these endeavors to make all schools safe for all students.
Let me encourage anyone reading this to join us — in the background, the foreground, wherever you are most comfortable — in gently but firmly making an impact in the safety of our youth.
Teresa Guajardo May/June 1999
I have been attending PFLAG Olympia meetings since December of 1996. The support and validation I receive there are priceless. Since this group has become so important to me, I agreed to join the PFLAG Olympia Board of Directors as their fund raiser. I figured a little work was the least I could do for such a wonderful group.
I am so impressed with the increased attendance at the meetings. It is wonderful to see so many new faces coming in each month and familiar faces coming back month after month. It means that we are doing something right! I really enjoy the mix of non-gay parents, family and friends with lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans individuals and couples. It is validating for to all to share space and thoughts. The connections made between individuals have changed many lives.
The monthly program is only one part of the responsibilities of the Board. We take the mission of PFLAG very seriously: "...support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal rights." We are always evaluating and planning the best ways to carry out our mission.
With that in mind, I invite you to participate in the many activities beyond our monthly program. We participate in the Pride activities here in Olympia and Seattle, we take our message and educational materials to community events, we write letters to the editor and speak with legislators about equal rights, we join and support other groups that are doing similar work.
PFLAG has provided booths at many community events. At one particular event, I was at the booth with Paul Beeman when a young woman approached and started yelling obscenities at us. I was speechless and intimidated and didn't know how to respond to such outward hate. Paul walked over to her and very calmly said, "I love all of my children." This incident illustrated to me the critical importance of gays and straights working together to end discrimination and secure equal rights. We can do so much to help change our society. All these activities require money and time. This is where you come in. Many events are coming up this spring. Help us staff the booth at the local Pride event, come with us to sell buttons at Seattle Pride. Donate money, purchase raffle tickets, send in your membership, join the Board of Directors, write letters. Most important, love and support one another vocally and proudly. I know that it has made a world of difference in my life.
I will get off my soap box now. I don't get to do it often but I really enjoy it when I do. I will see you at the next meeting!