EAST LANSING –
The Alliance of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Students will host a panel discussion about the future the gay rights movement in Michigan on Sunday, Sept. 28 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Erickson Kiva on the campus of Michigan State University.
Justin Lippi, a 21-year-old Psychology Major and Programming Director for the Alliance, is organizing the event.
"We want to inform and motivate MSU Students and community members as to what they can do to push the progress for the LGBT community," Lippi said in an interview. "We want to take a step back and look at where the community is after the ruling on Prop 2 (the anti-gay marriage amendment of 2004), where we need to be, and how we can get there. We want to reinvigorate and redirect the campus community so that we can make positive change instead of reacting to negative events."
Lippi said he had been interested in developing such a community dialogue for some time and that the Alliance decided it was time late this summer.
"People are very excited about this event because it seems everyone is in the same place we are. Many people are interested in activism but have no idea how they can actually do something positive," Lippi said. "Many college students are looking for a way to do direct action."
Serving on the panel will be Kate Runyon, interim executive director of Triangle Foundation, Derek Smiertka, executive director of Michigan Equality, Jay Kaplan, the legal director for the Gay and Lesbian Project of the ACLU of Michigan, Penny Gardner, president of the Lansing Association for Human Rights, State Representative Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, and State Representive Lorence Wenke, R- Kalamazoo.
"The Alliance was very concerned about bringing a diverse range of opinions onto the panel as well as very strong leaders and voices from the LGBT community here in Lansing and across the state," said Lippi about the panel speakers. "We contacted them via email and phone calls explaining the event and asked them to attend. Every single person who was invited agreed to attend, which to us shows how ready people are for this discussion to take place on a large scale."
For more information, visit the Alliance on the web at msu.edu/~alliance, call (517) 353-9520 or email [email protected].
After Prop 2: The future of gay rights in Michigan
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