Interest in a newly-formed support group for parents of lesbian and gay children in the Waikato has both amazed and pleased organisers. PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays) Waikato aims to help parents understand and accept with pride their lgbt offspring. Group facilitator Kate Duggan, mother of a lesbian daughter herself, says attendance at the group's first two meetings had been excellent and confirmed the need for a local support network. Parents who attend are all at different stages of acceptance. Some have just found out, others have come to terms with it but need advice on how to relate to their children on gay issues, or how to tell their friends and neighbours. "Parents said how good it was to meet and share stories with other parents – to have that personal contact which affirmed they weren't the only family with a child who was different," Duggan says. Monthly meetings are being held every third Thursday at the Methodist Centre in London St, Hamilton. For more information, contact Kate Duggan on (07) 839-3917.