15 Facts About Jeanne Manford

Jeanne Sobelson Manford was an American schoolteacher and activist.

Jeanne Manford co-founded the support group organization, PFLAG, for which she was awarded the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal.

Jeanne Manford married Jules Manford, had three children and returned to college in her 30s, earning her bachelor's degree from Queens College and joining the faculty of PS 32 in Queens in 1964.

Jeanne Manford lived in New York until 1996 when she moved to Minnesota to care for her great-grandchild while her granddaughter attended medical school.

Jeanne Manford then went on to live with her daughter in California.

Jeanne Manford gave interviews to radio and television shows in several cities in the weeks that followed, always accompanied by her husband or son.

In June 1991, Jeanne Manford was grand marshal of New York City's Gay Pride March.

Jeanne Manford relocated to Rochester, Minnesota, in 1996 to be near her family.

In October 2009, US President Barack Obama recounted Jeanne Manford's founding of PFLAG in a televised speech before the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner.

Jeanne Manford died at home in Daly City, California, on January 8,2013, aged 92.

In June 1991, Jeanne Manford was grand marshal of New York City's Gay Pride March.

Jeanne Manford was one of 18 Americans selected to receive the award from more than 6000 nominations.

Jeanne Manford said "that simple act" provided the impetus for a national organization "that has given so much support to parents and families and friends, and helped to change this country".

In June 2019, Jeanne Manford was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in New York City's Stonewall Inn.

Jeanne Manford has spoken concerning her son and the founding of PFLAG on the podcast All Gay Long.