Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center

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Dear Friends:

Sometimes we think we are making progress in the struggle for justice for the LGBT community:

The city of Saugatuck adopts an affirmative action ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity;

Benton Harbor/St. Joe and Kalamazoo both welcome LGBT participation in civic parades;

The city of Kalamazoo finds a way to continue to offer benefits to all of its employees despite obstacles that seem to prevent its doing so.

But then we are forced to confront other realities:

The Department of Victim’s Services of the Triangle Foundation reports receiving more than fifty calls in September alone from LGBT individuals who complain of being harassed and/or assaulted simply because they are who they are;

An employee of a gay bar in Windsor, Ontario, is murdered, apparently the victim of a hate crime;

A sixteen-year-old transgender youth, regardless of the loving support of his family, succumbs to some unimaginable depression or despair and takes his own life.

Despite progress, as the above examples illustrate, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender individuals are still, too often, objects of derision and targets of violence.

Despite progress, as the above examples illustrate, there is continuing need to come out, to speak out, to witness to the truth of the realities of our lives, to demystify ourselves so that our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens will come to accept the fact that if justice is to have any meaning there must be justice for all.

For twenty years the Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center has been working for justice. For twenty years, through phone help-lines, newsletters, workshops, and other means, it has sought to aid and inform members of the Kalamazoo community, gay and straight, as to what it means to be lesbian, or gay, or bisexual, or transgender. For twenty years it has sought to fulfill its mission―to create a community that celebrates the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity.

To accomplish that goal we need your help. Now is not the time to declare “Mission Accomplished” and quit the battle for justice. Now, when change is in process and allies in the struggle have renewed their commitment, is the time for us to push forward with added energy. We have launched Project Renaissance to do just that, and we need your support.

Join us in our struggle for a future in which all men and women, regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or physical disability, are encouraged to make maximum use of their talents for the benefit of us all. Volunteer to help as you can! Contribute generously so that those who are free to volunteer will have the resources they need to do the work that needs to be done.

Thank you for all you do to help the cause.

Thomas H. Seiler, President

Board of Directors

Kalamazoo Gay Lesbian Resource Center