Newsletter
PFLAG Madison WI
November 2025
Founded in 1973, PFLAG is the first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families.
October 19 Meeting Recap: We Will Always Be Here
Kristen Whitson was the speaker for our October 19, 2025 meeting. Kristen is a researcher, archivist and member of the LGBTQ+ community. After completing her Masters in Library and Information Studies specializing in Archives at the UW-Madison, she joined WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services) where she works closely with public libraries and historical societies to make their collections digitally available to the public via Recollection Wisconsin. Kristen passed around the book she and Jenny Kalvaitis co-authored titled We Will Always Be Here — A Guide to Exploring and Understanding the History of LGBTQ+ Activism in Wisconsin.
As Kristen spoke, her dedication and devotion in writing this book was inspiring. The book highlights twenty-seven fascinating moments from the past, featuring individuals across a wide spectrum of identities, events that occurred in all corners of the state and primary sources, including diary entries, love letters, zines, advertisements, oral histories and more, that bring each story to life. The aim of this book is not only to share compelling stories from Wisconsin’s LGBTQ+ history but also to inspire and embolden young people to make positive change in the world. The layout of the book is easy to follow. It clearly describes the spectrum of activism which includes: Educate Yourself, Tell Your Story, Be True to Yourself, Build Community and Get Active. The book is available through the Wisconsin Historical Society and Amazon.
Purchase We Will Always Be Here on Amazon
Next meeting: Sunday, November 16 at 2-4pm
Please join us to hear all about GSAFE’s (Gay/Straight Alliance for Safe Schools) Leadership Training Institute through the eyes and ears of a few of the students who attended in July.
Yante Turner, Director of Youth Programming and Lane Hanson, Director of Finance and Development will be present to introduce a few of the students via Zoom who attended the training. PFLAG-Madison funded 3 scholarships for students who were interested in attending the training. The Leadership Training Institute is a dynamic four-day, three-night event for LGBTQ+ high school students focused on activism and leadership. Campers participate in workshops on queer issues, consent, and racial justice, learning how to foster change in their schools and communities.
The speaker portion of our time together is from 2:00-3:00PM followed by an hour of confidential sharing/support time. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please email us at pflagmadison@gmail.com for the meeting location or DM our Facebook or Instagram page.
Or join us on Zoom! We are going to attempt to get us back to hybrid meetings in light of Winter on its way. We’ll open the Zoom a few minutes before 2pm and stay open a few minutes after 4pm. Meeting ID: 973 6771 1336 and the Passcode: 407202
See the GSAFE Leadership Training Institute in Action
Membership Renewal
Our annual dues are $30 per person or $40 per couple and are due in October. We share some dues with the National level of PFLAG and our local dues help support our Farmer’s Market, educational and outreach opportunities.
Submit payment online through our website donation button or send your check directly to PFLAG Madison, courtesy of our Treasurer, Paul Wertsch, 4221 Venetian Ln, Madison, WI 53718.
When you hit the Donation button at the top of our website, enter “other” and your total, and that will go to our PayPal account. You can write a memo, like “McConnell family dues” and that will help us know this is for renewing your membership.
When submitting payments using PayPal or credit cards, please provide the following information via email to Paul Wertsch, Treasurer, pwertsch@gmail.com:
Your complete name, mailing address for a tax receipt, and email address to receive the monthly newsletter.
The amount of money you submitted either as membership ($30 individual/$40 family) or as a donation.
Email pwertsch@gmail.com if you have not received a confirmation of past transactions.
Local News: Join us!
Saturday, November 22, 2025
4-6pm
Harmony Bar, 2201 Atwood Ave, Madison
All PFLAG families are invited to the launch party for the Historical Society’s new book Radical Family: Trailblazing Lesbian Moms Tell Their Stories, which is happening at the Harmony Bar on Saturday, Nov 22nd at 4:00p – 6:00pm. Kristen mentioned this book in her presentation in October, as it also published by Wisconsin Historical Society.
Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Book Festival and The Harmony Bar & Grill welcome you to a book launch celebration for the new essay collection, Radical Family: Trailblazing Lesbian Moms Tell Their Stories. Hear from the contributors and enjoy complimentary pizza and appetizers!
A Room of One’s Own bookstore will be on hand with copies of Radical Family for purchase and signing.
Edited by Margaret Mooney, Radical Family honors the history-making struggles and triumphs of lesbian families in Madison, Wisconsin, who raised children in the 1980s, ’90s, and early 2000s—a time when lesbian motherhood was widely considered extreme and unnatural. In a collection of nine profoundly personal essays, the contributors recount their diverse paths to parenthood and the hopes and challenges each family faced. While the stories in Radical Family are unique, they all share a common thread: the mothers’ resilience and the risks they took, both small and sweeping, to defend their family’s right to exist. Overcoming legal and social prejudice, these moms created informal networks in their local communities where they could share survival strategies and find acceptance among other families that looked like theirs. And with no rule book to guide them, and few laws to protect them, lesbian mothers created a new—some might even say radical—standard for what it means to be a family.
Joining editor Margaret Mooney at the event will be contributors Meg Gaines, Shelley Gaylord, Alix Olson, Leslie Bernstein, MC Reisdorf, Denise Matyka, Margaret McMurray, Janet Wright, and Kathy Borkowski.
Learn more about PFLAG Madison
Contact us: pflagmadison@gmail.com
Voice-Mail: 608-848-2333
Email: pflagmadison@gmail.com
Website: https://pflag-madison.org/
Meeting Place: Contact us for details on the location and parking
Meetings: 2:00 to 4:00 PM, 3rd Sunday of the month, Sept. to May
National PFLAG Website: http://www.pflag.org
President: Jeanne Williams
Treasurer: Paul Wertsch
Secretary: Jackie Wealti
Board Members: Sandy Feria, Bill Gillespie, Deb Laurence, Amelia McConnell, Michael Rosenman, Sue Martinson
Connect with us!