Jeanne Manford, PFLAG Founder, Turns 92

Today is the 92nd birthday of Jeanne Manford, the founder of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

Forty years ago, at a time when the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community had few allies and no legal protections, Manford created an arena where family and friends could stand up in support. And nearly all progress in gay rights since then has relied in part on these allies. Let's not forget that she also did this without the help of email, the Internet, cell phones or fax machines -- just a mother's passion to stand by her son.

In honor of Manford's birthday, PFLAG has set up a special email account where you can send her a note wishing her happy birthday (and if you're like us, thanking her for all she's done for LGBT people): thankyoujm@pflag.org.

So take a moment today and tell Jeanne how much what she's done means to you -- and to all of us in the community -- and then have a look a slideshow of images from the past 40 years of PFLAG history.