KALAMAZOO, Mich., April 21, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On
April 28, Denise Miller presents "From Undercover to
Outfront, The Story of Kalamazoo's
LGBTQ Community." For more than thirty years, the Kalamazoo Gay
Lesbian Resource Center—a non-profit, charitable organization now
called OutFront Kalamazoo—has sought to serve the gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender, and allied community of southwest
Michigan. Director Denise Miller will discuss the organization's
past and future. Miller, who is also an English instructor at
Kalamazoo Valley Community College has
more than 20 years of nonprofit, academic, and anti-racism work.
Prior to joining OutFront, she was an anti-racism and
intersectionality facilitator and member of the Truth, Racial
Healing & Transformation team through the Kalamazoo Community
Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The mission of OutFront Kalamazoo is to create a just,
inclusive, equitable, and supportive environment in Southwest Michigan for people of all sexual
orientations and gender identities and expressions. They work to
create a region that celebrates diversity and embraces equality.
The organization started in 1987 with the Lesbian/Gay Resource Line
and a simple two-page newsletter. In 1992, it began sponsoring a
Youth Group. During the '80s and '90s, it held LGBT proms and New
Year's Eve dinners and dances as community events and fundraisers.
In 1997, it moved into its first office in the CARES building at
629 Pioneer Street and, two years later, hired its first staff
member, Executive Director Sharon
Roepke.
Since then, it has developed many new programs designed to reach
out to various groups. In 2003, the organization sponsored
Trans∙cend, a peer support group for transgender persons. They have
also provided friendly visitors to isolated LGBT seniors, speakers
for area classrooms, churches, and civic organizations, and
representatives to cooperate on various projects with groups such
as the local chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians
and Gays (PFLAG), the YWCA, Planned Parenthood, Gryphon Place,
Senior Services, and many others.
The group seeks to inform and entertain members of the LGBTQ
community and their allies and to educate the persuadable public of
the realities of what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
transgender at this time in this place. To this end, they sponsor
film festivals, documentary film series, book discussion groups,
events in honor of Pride Month and Women's History Month, lectures,
readings, and more.
They have also worked in cooperation with local and state
organizations such as the Kalamazoo Alliance for Equality, Michigan
Equality, and the Triangle Foundation to support or oppose ballot
proposals, lobby for particular legislation, or protest perceived
threats to the civil liberties of members of the LGBT
community.
Admission to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum is free.
The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College and is governed
by its Board of Trustees.
SOURCE Kalamazoo Valley Museum