Participants in a Pride parade in Kalamazoo. Photo courtesy of OutFront Kalamazoo.
‘All About Love in the End’ by
QUINCY COX
On July 16, 2014, a Kalamazoo couple
came home to slurs and the words “Move or Die” written on the walls inside their home. Their wedding photos were destroyed. What this lesbian couple survived ultimately led to the formation of the Hate Crime Awareness Coalition in Kalamazoo. The group consists mostly of community members who occasionally hold public forums to discuss ending violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people. In Michigan, the current hate crime law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity in its protections. Additionally, the state does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, education or public accommodations. On the national level, the Human Rights Campaign — a national LGBTQ civil rights organization with over 3 million members — reports that 42 percent of LGBTQ youth 14 | ENCORE AUGUST 2020
do not believe the community they live in welcomes LGBTQ people. The Center for American Progress, a policy research group whose aim is addressing and promoting change, surveyed people who experienced sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination within the past year to see if they were negatively affected. According to the survey results, 68.5 percent reported a negative impact on their psychological well-being, 43.7 percent on their physical well-being, 52.8 percent on their work environment, and 56.6 percent on their community environment and neighborhood. These statistics show the LGBTQ community’s need for more support from people outside of this community — in other words, from allies. The term “ally” is used primarily by cisgender, heterosexual (straight) people who wish to show their support for the LGBTQ community. However, the word
“ally” has not been adapted to the new threats facing LGBTQ people, says one activist. Ronan Ler is a member of the LGBTQ community and has been a part of many Pride events and protests in Lansing during the past four years. Ler’s goal is to educate and change the socioeconomic and political systems working against LGBTQ people. “I think it's very easy for someone, or a company, who is not part of the community to identify as an ‘ally’ and then go on to reap the profits without contributing back to us,” says Ler. “Drag is mainstream, gay bars are hot spots, and Pride festivals draw in so much revenue for the sponsors and the cities who host them. At the same time, none of these corporate entities are putting anything toward the high rates of homelessness in our community or HIV education or the many other issues that are bound to affect a marginalized group of people.”
