Community News

Raising Arizona Kids Magazine and Channel 12's Lin Sue Cooney Feature PFLAG Phoenix Families
in a Variety of Mediums including in Print, on TV, and on the Web!

The Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Article:

Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Features PFLAG Phoenix Families

The February issue of Raising Arizona Kids Magazine includes a wonderful article that features several PFLAG Phoenix families. The story (beginning on page 24) is titled Gender Journeys: Raising a Child Who is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or "Questioning". Featured prominently are several gay and lesbian teens (and their parents) who tell their own stories of 'coming out' at home and at school. The article includes helpful information for parents of GLBT youth.

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More info. below!

Channel 12's Lin Sue Cooney's News Feature:

Channel 12 to Feature PFLAG Phoenix Families, Friday, Feb. 8th, 5pm

Each Friday 5pm 12News broadcast features a segment from Raising Arizona Kids magazine, hosted by anchor/reporter (and mother of four) Lin Sue Cooney and co-produced with Raising Arizona Kids magazine staff writer/producer Vicki Louk Balint. The segments repeat during the Saturday morning newscast. The Feb. 8th segment will focus on GLBTQ youth & families.

If you missed the Channel 12 news story, watch it here now! (1 min. 17 sec.)

Additional Features from the Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Website:

FEATURE STORIES

Gender Journeys: Raising a Child Who is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or “Questioning”

Mary Ann Bashaw tackles this tough topic with sensitivity and shares perspectives and resources that can benefit parents and all adults who teach or work with children.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of the overwhelming interest in this article (as evidenced by the number of phone calls and emails we received prior to publication date) we have decided to forgo our policy of waiting to post the story online after February magazine sales have
closed. Read Mary Ann's article.

ONLY ON THE WEB:

What's NEW on Raising Arizona Kids Radio

Gender journeys

Listen to Valley high school student Kaleena Newman describe what it's like growing up gay and learn how a supportive family, school community and others have helped her accept herself just the way she is. Listen now . . . . (approx. 5 minute download time on cable modem -- the interview itself is 10 minutes.)

Also on RAK Radio:

Valley teen Ian Miles shares his story of self-discovery and talks about the relief of finally coming out.

Ian's mom, Michele Dean, shares her perspective on raising a gay child.

The 'Back-Story':

In October, 2006, Raising Arizona Kids magazine reporter Mary Ann Bashaw contacted PFLAG Phoenix about the possibility of doing a story on gay and lesbian youth -- a first for this family magazine of 18 years! We worked with Mary Ann on and off over the next 15 months to find PFLAG Phoenix families and others in the community who could add to this important story. Early in 2008, we learned that the article would appear in the February, 2008 issue, and we anxiously awaited our copy of the magazine. The magazine finally arrived, and we have all been so very excited to see the excellent work Mary Ann did in pulling together such a wonderful, thorough, and most importantly, helpful article for families with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and "questioning" (GLBTQ) children. Links to the article are included above.

Within days of the magazine hitting the stands, we were contacted again by Raising Arizona Kids (RAK) magazine. Unknown to us, they have a relationship with local NBC affiliate Channel 12, and Channel 12's Lin Sue Cooney does a weekly feature focused on content from Raising Arizona Kids magazine. They now wanted to feature PFLAG Phoenix! We quickly assembled a group of well-seasoned Phoenix PFLAGers and met with RAK representatives and a Channel 12 photojournalist so they could film footage for their news feature. A link to the finished product is also included above.

Lastly (we think . . .), RAK magazine also recorded several audio interviews so that they could post these interviews on their website along with other additional content that will be helpful to families with GLBTQ children. As those interviews are posted on the RAK website, we will provide links to them here.