Local LGBTQIA+ support, advocacy, and education group gains steam – Manchester Journal

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Updated: June 12, 2025 @ 1:22 pm

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DORSET — An advocacy group for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as families, friends, and allies, may have flown under the radar for many, but they’re growing steadily in service of acceptance and visibility.
PFLAG Dorset is a local chapter of a national organization which is committed to “supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them,” according to the organization’s website. The local group got their start in 2010, largely as a response from concerned community members who stood in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community.
“PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights,” the organization’s website reads. “PFLAG provides opportunities for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.”
While current president Patrick Honan acknowledges that the acronym is “a little outdated,” standing for parents and friends/family of lesbians and gays, he posits that their mission is perhaps more paramount than ever.
“LGBTQ people have been around for a long, long time, you know,” Honan said, “and I think visibility varies depending upon acceptance.”
Amid the tensions accompanying the current political climate, the security of America’s LGBTQIA+ population feels decreasingly secure for some.
“Right now it feels like trans youth feel quite in danger, and that’s understandable,” he continued. “They feel like they’re targeted, and they are.”
For years, PFLAG Dorset has aimed to build a forum for learning, advocacy, and support for Vermont’s LGBTQIA+ population – work that takes the form of monthly support meetings (which can be joined via Zoom for those feeling some trepidation), individualized guidance, and more.
“A lot of people have contacted us, parents of LGBTQ kids, saying: ‘we want to move to Vermont, can you help us?’” Honan said. Such queries may be directed to local refugee resettlement organizations who have the connections to help, he explained. Instances of discrimination could be connected with Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark’s civil rights division, while families seeking reconciliation might be provided with the contact information of a local mediator, and so on.
“That’s the kind of thing that we try to do, is to help facilitate things for people,” Honan said, “get them hooked up with the right person if they need a hand.”
As an ally who grew up in Bennington, Honan says that his experiences in early adolescence set him on the road to his current work.
“I was a straight guy in the drama department down at Mount Anthony,” he said. “There were people that I knew that were gay and I liked them, I became friends with them, and I didn’t want to see anybody picking on them.”
“That’s the beauty of visibility, isn’t it?” Honan continued. “They’re people we know, and they’re people we like and people we love, and there’s a human aspect to it that maybe changes how we look at people. We develop understanding.”
Looking ahead, the group will have a presence at Bennington Pride this Saturday, as well as the Circle of Visibility planned in Manchester on Sunday. And, of course, PFLAG Dorset’s monthly meetings will continue on July 13 at The Dorset Church.
“We’re straight people who are allies to the LGBTQ plus community,” Honan acknowledged. “So by being visible, and by handing out pamphlets and talking to other folks, I think that that helps.”
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