The Ames chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of the LGBTQIA+ Community), the world’s largest family and ally organization, according to the PFLAG website, will be hosting Beth Wessel-Kroeschell at its meeting Tuesday. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the YSS Building.

“[Wessel-Kroeschell] will be discussing the upcoming session of the Iowa Legislature focusing on issues that may impact the LGBT community,” according to the Ames PFLAG press release.

Wessel-Kroeschell is the Iowa State Representative from the 45th District. She has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2005.

As of 2011, Wessel-Kroeschell serves on several committees in the Iowa House including the Environmental Protection and Judiciary committees, as well as the Human Resources committee, where she is the ranking member. She is also a member of the Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittee.

“We do projects, as well as host speakers and have monthly meetings where part of our meetings are support and discussion,” said Linda Trudeau, secretary-treasurer of the Ames PFLAG, when explaining what PFLAG does. “One of the other things we do is every year we give out gifts to the graduates at Lavender Graduation, like coffee mugs filled with candy.”

PFLAG was founded in 1973 when Jeanne Manford marched with her son in New York’s Christopher Street Liberation Day March, the precursor to today’s Pride parade. The first formal meeting took place on March 11, 1973.

“By 1980, PFLAG began to distribute information to educational institutions and communities of faith nationwide, establishing itself as a source of information for the general public,” according to the PFLAG website.

In 1981, members decided to launch a national organization and the first PFLAG national office was established in Los Angeles.

In the early 1990s, PFLAG chapters in Massachusetts helped pass the first Safe Schools legislation in the country. In 1993, PFLAG added the word “families” to the name, and added bisexual people to its mission and work. By the mid-1990s, a PFLAG family was responsible for the Department of Education’s ruling that Title IX also protected gay and lesbian students from harassment based on sexual orientation.

“In 2014, the organization officially changed its name from ‘Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays’ to, simply, PFLAG. This change was made to accurately reflect PFLAG members, those PFLAG serves and the inclusive work PFLAG has been doing for decades,” according to the PFLAG website.