With LGBTQ+ people facing intensifying political hostility, PFLAG National gathered about 100 supporters Tuesday evening at the American Federation of Teachers headquarters in Washington, D.C., for its annual “Love Takes Justice” reception. Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, a gay political icon, made a rare public appearance to celebrate a friend he knew from his time in Congress.
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This year’s honoree was Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the California Democrat, who received the PFLAG National Champion of Justice Award. The honor places Waters in a lineage that includes the late Maryland Rep. John Lewis; Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin; then-Rep., now Colorado Gov. Jared Polis; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and fellow Californian Rep. Barbara Lee, who received last year’s award during a gathering on Capitol Hill. That event, held in September, before the 2024 election, also honored AFT President Randi Weingarten with the PFLAG National Flag Bearer Award for her work on inclusive education and opposition to book bans.
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But this year’s reception unfolded under a dramatically darker national climate, with speakers repeatedly invoking the second Trump administration’s policies and the fear reverberating through families, schools, and statehouses.
“My heart breaks for LGBTQ+ kids and their families now.”
PFLAG National Board Chair Edith Guffey spoke through the lens of a mother who raised a nonbinary child in the Midwest. “My heart breaks for LGBTQ+ kids and their families now and how they’re having to navigate such ugly stuff that’s happening in our country,” she said. PFLAG, she emphasized, exists to “provide support, education, and sometimes these days, most important, advocacy” to families navigating fear and misinformation.
PFLAG National CEO Brian K. Bond and Edith Guffey, chair of the PFLAG National board of directors.Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National
She then introduced Frank as “a longtime champion” whose leadership helped shape the civil rights landscape for families like hers.
Waters “has done more to keep us together” against bigotry
Frank, 85, took the stage with the mix of wit, political clarity, and historical memory that has made him one of the movement’s most enduring voices. Sitting in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank, he began by thanking PFLAG “for the enormous good work you do,” joking about aging, “losing a body part here for the last few years,” and quipping that he would likely outlive “two of the things that have sustained me for most of my life — newspapers and my spine.” But his humor was the prelude to a deeper assessment of the political alliances that have shaped LGBTQ+ rights for decades.
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He positioned Waters not merely as an ally but as a structural force within a multiracial, cross-community coalition that has repeatedly held under conditions meant to shatter it.
“There has been no more effective force in refuting the effort of the bigots to drive us apart,” Frank, who served in Congress from 1981 until 2013, said. “Nobody has done more to keep us together and to make it clear that we are in a common cause.”
Former Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Barney Frank addressing a crowd at a PFLAG event.Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National
Frank, who came out publicly in 1987, reflected on the historic alignment between Black lawmakers and LGBTQ+ rights, noting that Black members of Congress consistently held the strongest pro-LBGTQ+ voting records.
“If you only look at the gay members,” he added, “then they’re better, because then you get into the [closeted] gay Republican and they bring the average way down.”
Frank also invoked their shared battles during the Clinton impeachment era, captured in the documentary Let’s Get Frank, joking that Waters “stole” the film from him with an especially eloquent speech defending constitutional norms.
A later Saturday Night Live sketch even parodied the pair, cementing their visibility as two of Congress’s most outspoken defenders of civil rights, he said.
Related: Randi Weingarten calls Donald Trump 'connoisseur of chaos and fear' at PFLAG event (exclusive)
He then turned to policy, spotlighting Waters’ imprint on the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act, which created new banking protections in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. When they served together on the House Financial Services Committee, Waters insisted that discrimination in the sector be addressed as part of financial reform. She recognized, Frank said, that bias functioned “in two ways”: in hiring “a very undiverse workforce” and in lending, where decisions made by overwhelmingly white boards and officers reproduced the same inequities.
Waters authored a diversity-focused provision that required federal attention to discriminatory patterns in both employment and access to loans. Republicans attempted to remove the amendment, sending “a woman — they figured she could get away with it better than others” — to offer the strike. Instead, Frank said, “everybody piled on.” Most significantly, because Waters’ provision is written into statute rather than regulation, “not even this Supreme Court” can erase it, he said.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters talks about her relationship with former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank.Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National
In one of the night’s most intimate moments, Frank described how his mother joined PFLAG after he came out late in life, and how other elderly parents confided in her because she had helped them find the strength to support their own children. “That was one of the most important factors in helping turn this around,” he said.
He closed by returning to Waters: “We are much better off for her service.”
“I will not be silent. Not on my watch.”
“This is a difficult and dangerous time across the country,” Waters, 87, said when accepting the award. “Let me be very clear tonight. I see what they’re doing, and I will not be silent. I will not sit by while they attack our children. Not on my watch.”
She retold the early days of her HIV and AIDS advocacy in Los Angeles, including a formative visit to Jewel Thais-Williams’ Catch One nightclub, where she met young gay men abandoned by their families.
“It was kind of that moment that helped me to understand. I really got it,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters accepting a PFLAG award.Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National
She also recalled voting against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 “when many in my own party went the other way” and emphasized that LGBTQ+ equality is inseparable from economic equality. “When a transgender person cannot open a bank account without harassment, that is a financial justice issue.”
Waters then brought longtime aide Kathleen Sengstock, who has worked in the congresswoman's office for 26 years, to the stage, calling her “a godsend” and one of her office’s most knowledgeable voices on LGBTQ+ issues. Sengstock wore a “little punk staffer” button Frank once distributed in protest of Republican criticism of congressional aides.
The Advocate spoke with two of PFLAG’s top leaders, who described an organization that is rapidly mobilizing as families seek grounding, clarity, and community.
PFLAG National Vice President of Advocacy Katie Blair said the event underscores a dimension of PFLAG many don’t always see: its advocacy muscle.
“We’re known for the amazing support we offer families, but coming together as fierce advocates for justice, we don’t get to do that all the time,” Blair said. The event, she explained, amplifies the organizations and lawmakers “who are in support of our PFLAG families,” especially as many feel isolated in hostile communities.
Former Rep. Barney Frank and Kathleen Sengstock.Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National
Blair said local chapters, founded largely by parents of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, have been transformed as more families of transgender youth seek help. “Our chapters were mainly LGB families, and as families of trans folks came to the table, they were able to shift hats and remember where they were 20 years ago,” she said. “It’s been beautiful to see them welcome trans parents into the fold.”
She said PFLAG’s unique strength is its ability to have conversations in communities where LGBTQ+ visibility is limited. “We can’t exist in hard spaces without having those conversations,” she said. “We kick off rooted in the love we have for our families, our kids, and we get very far that way.”
Blair said chapter growth has surged as families seek connection and information. For newcomers, she emphasized, “We can meet you wherever you are on your journey.”
In a separate interview, PFLAG National CEO Brian Bond described the deep anxiety many families felt after the Trump administration’s return — especially as anti-LGBTQ+ policies expand from statehouses to the federal level.
“The first reaction is terrified,” Bond said. But in many places, he added, communities were already under siege by their states, and now “it’s just been nationalized into fear.” That fear, he said, is transforming into “rage and the need for community and for organizing.”
Rep. Maxine Waters and PFLAG National CEO Brian K. Bond.Paul Morigi/Getty Images for PFLAG National
Since the 2024 election, he said, PFLAG has seen an explosion of new chapters — 45 so far — “most of them in smaller communities” like Monroe, Michigan, and Lloyd, Virginia. “People are resilient. They want to survive. They want to thrive.”
Bond emphasized that trans people “have always been here,” and visibility is a strength even as disinformation grows. More than half of families seeking support now are parents of transgender or nonbinary youth. “Most are coming saying, ‘How can I help?’” he said. “We will ultimately win this, because it’s worth fighting for.”
Bond also addressed the steep drop in corporate giving amid anti-DEI pressure. “We’ve taken a significant hit in our corporate funding,” he said, though he praised companies that “stayed true to their values.” He added that LGBTQ+ employees and their families remain central to workplace culture. “If you can bring your authentic self to work, then you are a productive employee,” he said.
Returning to the podium to close the event, Bond delivered one more charge to the room: “We refuse to sit on the sidewalks as they come for us or our kids or our families.” As the 2026 elections approach, he said, the fight is everywhere: “school boards, city councils, state capitols.” And PFLAG, he promised, “will never back down.”
