JACKSON HEIGHTS — Congress passed a bill this week to rename the neighborhood's post office for Jeanne and Jules Manford, the Queens parents who formed the LGBTQ support group PFLAG in the 1970s.
Rep. Joe Crowley introduced the bill this week as a way to honor the Flushing couple, who became activists in the gay rights movement after their son Morty was beaten at a protest in 1972, according to reports.
Months later she marched in an early version of the Pride Parade holding a sign that announced her support, and urged other parents to unite for their children.
In 1972 Manford formed Parents of Gays, which later became Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG.
When he first announced his bill, Crowley said the couple's "unconditional love for their openly gay son" helped change people's hearts and minds in Queens and beyond.
“Together, they showed great courage and forged a path in the struggle for equality," he said.
Though the Manfords lived in Flushing, and recently had a street renamed for them, Crowley's office said the 37th Avenue Post Office was selected due to the block's significance for LGBTQ rights.
Jeanne Manford was the first grand marshal for the Queens Pride Parade, and she also founded the Queens chapter of P-FLAG with now-City Councilman Danny Dromm in 1993.
The bill now has to be passed in the Senate for final approval.
