In the next years, through word of mouth and community need, similar groups sprang up around the country, offering 'safe havens' and mutual support for parents with gay and lesbian children.
The first formal meeting took place on Maat the Metropolitan-Duane Methodist Church in Greenwich Village (now the Church of the Village). After many gay and lesbian people ran up to Jeanne during the parade and begged her to talk to their parents, she decided to begin a support group.
The idea for PFLAG began in 1972 when Jeanne Manford marched alongside her gay son, Morty, in New York's Christopher Street Liberation Day March, the precursor to today's Pride parade.
