Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns
Encyclopedia
Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC) is a faith community within the Religious Society of Friends
.
FLGBTQC publishes a semi-annual newsletter, which is received by 1,500 individuals and Quaker Meetings worldwide.
The group maintains a collection of Marriage Minutes by Quaker Meetings regarding Same-Sex Marriage
. FLGBTQC has also sponsored the publication of Each of Us Inevitable, (ISBN # 1199-01161-4), a collection of talks about coming to terms with one's identity and direction.
Annual Gathering of Friends. Most participants live in the United States, which is where all of the February Gatherings (and all but one of the July ones) have been held for over twenty-five years.
, in New Mexico.
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
.
Purpose
From a minute approved in 1999 http://flgbtqc.quaker.org/whatis.html, FLGBTQC states:FLGBTQC publishes a semi-annual newsletter, which is received by 1,500 individuals and Quaker Meetings worldwide.
The group maintains a collection of Marriage Minutes by Quaker Meetings regarding Same-Sex Marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. FLGBTQC has also sponsored the publication of Each of Us Inevitable, (ISBN # 1199-01161-4), a collection of talks about coming to terms with one's identity and direction.
Membership
FLGBTQC holds twice-yearly Gatherings, one in February and one in July at the Friends General ConferenceFriends General Conference
Friends General Conference is a North American Quaker organization primarily serving the Quaker yearly and monthly meetings in the United States and Canada that choose to be members...
Annual Gathering of Friends. Most participants live in the United States, which is where all of the February Gatherings (and all but one of the July ones) have been held for over twenty-five years.
History
FLGBTQC's origin comes from groups founded in the 1970s, when gay and lesbian Friends were first becoming visible in North American Quakerism. Initially, these Friends founded a group called Friends Committee for Concern. The group has since changed its name three times: first, to "Friends Committee on Gay Concerns (FCGC)", then to "Friends for Lesbian and Gay Concerns ("FLGC"), and most recently, to "Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC)". This most recent name change occurred at the Gathering in February 2003, at Ghost RanchGhost Ranch
Ghost Ranch is a retreat and education center located close to the village of Abiquiu in Rio Arriba County in north central New Mexico. The conference center and lodgings at Ghost Ranch are run by the Presbyterian Church but open to the general public.-History:Ghost Ranch is part of Piedra...
, in New Mexico.