By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
FERNDALE – Never, ever try to take away the rights of an English professor; not only do they fight back, they do it with eloquence.
That's the story of Vanessa Marr, who left her position as an adjunct professor of English at Delta College to become Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center's first civic engagement coordinator.
Out for three years, Marr, 31, said that previously she was on the advocacy committee for the YWCA of Bay County and a volunteer for Perceptions. In addition, she said that she was out to her students and the faculty of Delta, which is located north of Bay City.
"I was always out to my students and colleagues, and tried to find ways to incorporate theory with application so my students would understand that these are real people they're reading about," she said.
But when Proposal 2 reared its anti-family head, Marr became involved as a volunteer for the Coalition for a Fair Michigan. And when the opportunity to move south to work for Affirmations came along, Marr said, "I wanted to take the next step and work more fully in activism and advocacy. That was always a passion of mine and this gave me a chance to take that leap."
Marr said that her goals in her position, which she has held since March, include working with other organizations that are involved in the struggle for LGBT rights, working to increase the visibility of the LGBT community in the greater community, and "bridging the gap between the LGBT and greater community to work on common projects."
As an example of the latter goal, Marr told BTL about having recently met a Methodist minister from Pontiac who was interested in getting his youth group more involved in community issues. The pastor invited Marr to come to the group, encourage them to vote, and help them get registered to do so.
"I don't know if he would consider himself an ally, but I'm hoping with this opportunity that he'll be able to see us in that light."
Marr, who is originally from Saginaw, is the mother of two children; Brandon and Jordan, ages seven and eleven.
As a single mom, "My downtime includes watching SpongeBob – which is cool, because he's supposed to be gay, at least according to our 'friends' on the right," Marr laughed.
However, between her job and her duties as a mom, watching SpongeBob is about the only free time Marr has, she admitted.
Asked about her hobbies, Marr's first response was, "I forgot what those are – it's been such a long time," before listing nature walking, biking and time with her kids as among her favorite non-work activities.
And, of course, Marr would love to spend more time reading.
"I'm a reader wannabe, so I usually try to grab articles when I can," she said. "I buy lots of books, I just don't have time to read them."
Perhaps surprising to Southeastern Michigan residents who have seldom ventured north, Marr said that she has experienced more anti-gay prejudice since moving to this area than she did in her former home. Now in Troy, Marr has had one bigot yell, "Dyke!" at her, and another threw a bottle near her apartment.
"I never had a problem (while living up north)," she said. "Not one. They [northern Michiganders] believe in 'live and let live,' so even though I drove around with my rainbow bumper sticker on my car they would wave 'hi.' They're really more concerned with whether or not you're a good neighbor."
"That's not to say that there wasn't any problems – my friends up there had their share," she added.
As for the bigotry she has experienced since moving to this area, Marr said, "I feel that my work has come close to home now. Activism never stops at the office; it doesn't end there."
