Colette Roberts, co-founder of the Howard County chapter of PFLAG – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, was recently honored by the county?s Human Rights Commission for her leadership.
Why did you start the Howard chapter of PFLAG?
I have a lesbian daughter who I have never had a problem accepting, but I started to hear from her about friends? parentswho were not accepting.
They were being very judgmental.
Some had thrown their kids out, and I thought, How could you do that?
I heard about PFLAG … [and] it has just blossomed into a really amazing organization.
How would characterize acceptance of gays and lesbians in Howard and the region?
Compared to other places in the state like the Eastern Shore or Carroll County, the rate of acceptance is very high [in Howard].
What are the community?s greatest challenges?
I think the school system still needs to work on being more open and accepting of our students.
We aren?t asking for special treatment, but it would be nice to see posters in the schools saying that being different is OK or being gay is OK.
We have domestic-partner benefits in Howard County, but you get taxed on that benefit.
If we had marriage, we wouldn?t have that problem.
That is something I would like to see in the whole state and the whole country.
What does your award mean for the organization?
This is just another step in recognizing we are a viable, functioning, strong, progressive organization with political clout and a lot of people behind us.
There is a PFLAG in Frederick, and then down in Gaithersburg. The Baltimore chapter closed [about a year ago]. …
We get calls from all over.
We have had people from Annapolis and Baltimore and a group from Carroll County [come to meetings].
