Celebrities Read the Story of the PFLAG Founder, Jeanne Manford for LGBTQ History Month

For LGBTQ History Month in October, PFLAG National has brought 13 celebrities together to share a special reading of the new American Psychological Association (APA) children’s book The Mother of a Movement: Jeanne Manford—Ally, Activist, and Co-Founder of PFLAG. It is available now in bookstores and libraries for reading to children of all ages, at Drag Queen Story Hours, Read With Love-Ins, or bedtime. 

Celebrity readers Dan Bucatinsky, Michael D. Cohen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ilana Glazer, Meena Harris, Jessica Hecht, Chef Melissa King, Alec Mapa, Max Mutchnick, Kumail Nanjiani, Avi Roque, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Amy Schneider have lent their voices and their affirmation of LGBTQ+ people in the video reading The Mother of a Movement, available at pflagnation.al/motherofamovement. The film is produced and directed by Phil D'Amour with music by Podington Bear composed by Chad Crouch. The book is written by Rob Sanders and illustrated by Sam Kalda. Parents, caregivers and teachers are encouraged to share this heartwarming video reading with their children.

“In some ways, 2022 was made for people like Jeanne Manford, who was a teacher, a mother, and a person who was unable to passively allow government officials to harm her LGBTQ+ child – or anyone else’s. Alongside her LGBTQ child, she founded a movement rooted in love, affirmation, and that all LGBTQ+ people deserve dignity and respect,” said PFLAG National’s Executive Director Brian K. Bond. “PFLAG National is very proud to partner with the American Psychological Association to tell Jeanne Manford’s story in this way and in this moment.”

In the past year, government officials have worked overtime to censor education and ban access to medically necessary health care for LGBTQ+ youth, particularly transgender youth. These actions echo the climate of the 1970s, when Jeanne Manford got organized and got active as the first loud and proud parent to join her LGBTQ+ child in the fight for rights, dignity and respect for all LGBTQ+ people. Today, PFLAG continues to follow Jeanne’s lead by working to make communities just and affirming of LGBTQ+ people, and to challenge efforts intended to cause harm; from suing the State of Texas in PFLAG v. Abbott to an initiative to make more books about all kinds of topics and people available called #ReadWithLove.

The Mother of a Movement is not just a history of an LGBTQ+ activist, or of a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal, it is an acclaimed children's book from a trusted source. 

“APA's children's books help younger readers navigate life’s challenges and serve as a voice for those who have been marginalized for their differences or shamed for being their true selves,” says Frank C. Worrell, PhD, president of the American Psychological Association. “Psychological research has shown that stigma based on sexual orientation can affect children and adolescents and lead to depression, anxiety and self-harm. Mother of a Movement is a beautiful story demonstrating the positive impact of family love, acceptance, inclusion and belonging.”