by Jessica Carreras
Denise Brogan-Kator is a 54-year-old mother who lives with her partner, Mary Kator, in Milford. She's also the chairperson of the Triangle Foundation's board of trustees, on the board of the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project and the co-founder (with Mary) of the Rainbow Law Center. Whichever hat she wears, Brogan-Kator keeps one goal in mind: equality.
You made a big career change from business to law. Why?
I came to the University of Michigan Law School at age 49 in the belief that it would provide me with the extra tools necessary to help make positive change for the LGBT community. I had come from Florida, a state that is openly hostile to gays and lesbians. Moreover, I had personally experienced discrimination – I lost three jobs, and very nearly my rights as a parent, as a direct result of my being transgender – and had been told there were no laws to protect me. That spurred me to become an activist for LGBT rights, and although I had marched and protested and lobbied Congress for anti-discrimination laws, I felt that as a lawyer, I could have a more direct impact on the struggle for LGBT civil rights.
What were your views about Michigan's attitudes toward LGBT people when you first moved here, and how have they changed?
As silly as it may sound, after what I had been through, I arrived in Michigan in March 2004 as a wide-eyed optimist in that regard. At the time, I didn't realize what an island of progressive thinking Ann Arbor is, and I was therefore not prepared for what the Michigan voters (and voters in 10 other states) did that November when they chose to inscribe discrimination against the LGBT community into the state constitution. Since then, my optimism has evolved into a fierce determination to fight back.
There is no question in my mind that we are not safe in our state. It is shocking to me that Michigan ranks third in the nation in anti-LGBT hate crimes. But I believe that it is not only physical attacks or homophobic and transphobic slurs that make us unsafe. Everywhere we look in Michigan, we are under attack. The legislature, the courts, the departments of state and local government, and Michigan voters have all worked to create a climate of fear, intolerance, and exclusion in this state. We – all members of our community and our allies – have to work even harder to end it.
Rainbow Law Center focuses on LGBT clients. What do you hope to accomplish as a lawyer?
After graduating in 2006, my partner Mary (a 1984 University of Michigan law school alumnus) and I founded the Rainbow Law Center to focus on serving the legal needs of Michigan's LGBT community. We have three central goals: to provide top-quality legal representation to our underserved community; to educate our community about the realities of being LGBT in this state and to change those realities. We do these things through direct representation (negotiation, litigation, etc.), speaking engagements around southern Michigan (universities, LGBT organizations, etc.), participation in strategic coalitions (i.e. the Michigan Coalition for Gender Equality) and legislative activism and support.
You're very involved in Michigan's LGBT community. Why is it important to you to stay so committed?
Service is one way that we give back. Perhaps it sounds trite, but many of us – myself included – have faced rejection from our families when we came out. We turned to this community and found hope, acceptance, love – indeed, we found family. Giving back is important to me. Changing the landscape of bigotry and fear for those who follow us is important. My involvement in our community helps me to do these things.
I joined the board of the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project in 2006, and in 2007 was asked to join the board of the Triangle Foundation. I was honored to have been chosen earlier this year to be the chairperson of Triangle's board of trustees. Everything Triangle does today it can do only because of all those who have gone before us. The founders of our organization – as well as every former board member, and every former staffer – gave unselfishly to build what we have today. The way to honor that legacy is remain true to our mission and to the LGBT communities.
As a transgender woman, what are your hopes for the future of LGBT equality in Michigan?
My hope is that I am able to help guide Triangle Foundation toward the furtherance of its mission. I am committed to this mission irrespective of my identity as a transgender woman.
We have witnessed amazing progress toward LGBT civil rights in other parts of our country since 2004. We have a long way to go in Michigan. I believe we need to rally our community. We need people to be involved, to realize how far we have yet to travel, to donate their time, their treasure and their talents to Triangle or to the LGBT organization of their choice. It is up to each of us, individually and through the organizations to which we contribute, to turn our dreams for equality into reality. If we do, I am confident that we will see fairness and equality return to this great state.
For more information, visit http://www.rainbowlawcenter.com or http://www.tri.org.
