This Saturday, Suffolk residents will be able to learn more about how to support their friends and family in the LGBTQ community at a public event organized by Suffolk Public Libraries and PFLAG, the nonprofit organization formerly known as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

“Celebrating Pride with PFLAG” will be held at the Suffolk Art Gallery on Bosley Avenue this Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. The free event is open to the public, with refreshments served as attendees enjoy several presentations, a community art project and the opportunity to share their own stories.

PFLAG representatives will speak about the history of the largest organization for LGBTQ support in the United States and its Norfolk chapter. Among the speakers will be Pride Stage Entertainment chair and former Hampton Roads Pride board member Danny Epperson, and PrideFest vice president and co-chair Fawn Faulks.

Suffolk Public Libraries staff offered to help organize the event to PFLAG members. Other sponsors include the Suffolk Art League and Suffolk Parks and Recreation.

“The Suffolk event was a surprise to us,” said David Dorbad, PFLAG board member with the Norfolk chapter. “The push came from within the city of Suffolk rather than from without, which is great.”

Library staff will be at the event with recording equipment for its Suffolk Speaks oral history project. Those interested will be able to share their stories and describe their own unique experiences within the LGBTQ community of Suffolk.

“As a library, we are community organization that is very sensitive to the different voices in the community,” said Megan Mulvey, library outreach and program services manager. “We’re eager to learn what their experiences are like in Suffolk and to give a voice to them.”

Dorbad helped rekindle the Norfolk chapter in 2011. As an openly gay man and a pediatrician by trade, one of his missions is to provide support to parents both in the office and individual settings “on a subject that’s very close to my heart,” he said.

“People are in all different stages of understanding and acceptance of what it means to have a child, a loved one, or a friend who is gay or is somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum,” he said. “Our primary goal is to answer questions. We want to be a resource for understanding in a non-threatening and non-political way if possible.”

Call 514-7323 or go online at www.suffolkpubliclibrary.com for more information.