Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage

Joan and Rick Francolini are the parents of a bisexual daughter, Renee, who’s about to marry a transgender man.

They’re also committed social justice advocates who recently organized the first-ever Lower Cape Pride celebration on Cape Cod.

Dubbed, “Unity in Community,” the three-day event, a multi-generational celebration of LGBTQ+ pride, drew hundreds of people to the towns of Orleans and Brewster, Massachusetts in June 2025.

A...

The Trump Administration’s explicit animus toward transgender people is a well-documented and very public fact. 

Starting in his first term and now in his second, President Trump and his Administration have carried out a systematic, years-long effort to roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people. 

Beginning in January 2025, the Administration issued a series of executive orders specifically targeted at trans people. Trump’s directiv...

Susanne Bennett describes herself as a white, queer, cis-gender, able-bodied, and educated elder woman.

At 78, this former college professor and retired clinical social worker also describes herself as a questioner, a doubter, and someone who’s always sought to better understand herself as a sexual and spiritual person.

These are just a few of the topics Susanne explores in a new memoir, Evolving: Faith, Sexuality and Aging.

The...

Lindsey Straus is a 73-year-old trans woman who’s also the biological father of three sons -- triplets -- now in their early 40s.

The story of Lindsey’s transition --- from husband, devoted dad, and little league coach to trans woman, social activist, and lay minister at her church in Brewster MA --- is truly inspiring and courageous.

But that transitional journey did not come easily or without pain.

After more than 20 years of ...

In the prolonged, often contentious battle for marriage equality in the United States, it can truly be said that Linda and Gloria Bailey-Davies are pioneers.

Together now for over 50 years, the happily married Cape Cod couple, both former therapists, were among the seven couples who were litigants in the Massachusetts same-sex marriage case (Goodrich vs Department of Public Health) that led to the landmark legalization of same-sex...

Sarah Messeck and Avery Condon are a young couple very much in love. The two met at a Cape Cod Pride event in June 2022 and soon afterwards began dating. Eventually they plan to marry.

Sarah, an animal welfare advocate and horse riding enthusiast, identifies as a cisgender woman and uses the pronouns she and her. In the past, she had relationships with people of different genders.

Avery, who’s passionate about environmental and s...

Dr. Jane Fleishman is an accomplished sexuality educator, writer, program developer, and researcher. In 2016, at the age of 62, she received her doctorate in Human Sexuality from the Widener University Center for Human Sexuality Studies after a successful career as a consultant for a large public mental health system.

In this fascinating interview with PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce, Fleishman delves deeply into the challenges LGBTQ...

Brett Smiley is the married, gay mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, the first in the city's 400-year history. Elected to office in 2022 on his second try for the job, Smiley got his start in Rhode Island politics years before, serving as Chief Operating Officer for Providence and Director of Administration for the Ocean State, as well as Chief of Staff to former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo.

In this revealing interview with...

Rick Miller is a psychotherapist who works extensively with gay men. Gay himself, he has pioneered the use of mind-body experiential therapy to assist gay men, and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, in dealing with early life trauma.

Through doing such work, Rick has helped many in the community discover inner strength, build personal resiliency, embrace self-love, and build strong and healthy relationships with others.

In th...

Mara Betti is a successful, 50-something architect, working for one of the leading architectural firms in Boston.

She’s also a transwoman and biological father of two sons, ages 18 and 22.

In this deeply personal interview with PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce, Mara talks emotionally about coming out and accepting herself as trans; a journey that has taken her decades, and which has put tremendous strain on her heterosexual marriage ...

Assigned female at birth, Jake Wanamaker is a 2023 graduate of Nauset High School on Cape Cod who today identifies as a Transman. For Jake, the awareness that he was born into a body of the wrong-gender for him came early, when he was only a few years old. But he didn’t have the knowledge or vocabulary with which to understand the feelings and emotions deep within him.

So, he went online, at an early age, to learn more about the T...

Ann Burke is a registered nurse and long-time advocate for Transgender people who live on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard.

She serves as a board member of the Cape and Islands Transgender Resource Fund, and also acts as a counselor and facilitator of Transgender social support meetings, held twice monthly on he Cape, under the auspices of Fenway Health of Boston.

In this insightful interview with PFLAG Cape Cod's Rick ...

Rikki Bates is a rock and roll drummer who has struggled much of her life with gender dysphoria. For years, like many Transgender people, she lived with deep depression, and a lack of adequate employment.  Then, she managed to get gender reassignment surgery which changed her life.  In the process, she also brought about precedent-setting changes in how Transgender health care is provided to people in the Commonwealth of Massachuse...

Transgender activist and first-time state legislator Zooey Zephyr made national headlines in April 2023 when she spoke out in support of Transgender rights in the Montana state legislature and was banished from legislative debate on the topic as a result.

Courageous leadership is often defined by four compelling traits: Confidence in oneself, commitment to one’s values and beliefs, the ability to persist, and a warrior spirit!

By...

At the age of 23, Felice Cohen was, like many other college graduates, hesitant about entering the real world, and at the same time, uncertain about her sexuality.

Focused on landing her first job as a writer, falling in love was the last thing on Felice’s mind. But fall in love she did -- with her boss, Sarah, a woman 34 years older than she.

It was a relationship that lasted 9 years. And for Felice, it was the first taste of tr...

Jere Mahaffey is a 35-year-old former Evangelical Christian. He’s also an out, married gay/bisexual man who has retained many of the tenets of his early Christian faith, while leaving other elements of evangelical doctrine behind him.

As an adolescent, Jere was drawn initially to girls, and even had girlfriends while he was in junior high school. But eventually he discovered he found boys attractive as well.

Today, he and his par...

Connor Ryan is an 18-year-old transgender male and 2022 graduate of Bourne High School in Bourne, MA.

He’s also one of three recipients of the 2022 Anne Toran scholarship, an award given annually by PFLAG Cape Cod to high school seniors from the Cape in recognition of their courage and work on behalf of LGBTQ+ rights.

In this insightful interview with PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce, Connor talks about the time during his high schoo...

Lilith Rose is a twenty-something individual who identifies as transgender and non-binary. At the time of this interview, they had also just been named executive director of PFLAG San Francisco.

Lilith grew up in what she describes as a toxic home environment. Born anatomically male, they first came out as gay before eventually discovering they are transgender.

Today, Lilith is committed to educating others about the LGBTQ+ world...

In October 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was brutally attacked and tied to a fence outside of Laramie, Wyoming. Five days later he died of deep wounds inflicted in one of the most vicious anti-gay attacks in American history.

In this wide-ranging interview with PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce, Jeff Mack, a personal friend of Matt’s and today the Executive Vice President of the Matthew Shep...