BTL Editorial: Giving thanks

Being gay, lesbian bisexual or transgender in today's world is to be at the center of social dialogue and political change. Each week the events, traumas, victories and latest news of our colorful, fun and adventurous LGBT culture gives us the chance to flex our journalistic muscles. Here at BTL we want to take this opportunity to thank you – our community – for making our jobs anything but dull!
We are thankful for the diversity within the LGBT community. It often presents challenges and causes conflicts, but it is our very differentness that gives us the opportunity to overcome our prejudices about each other. There is perhaps no other identifiable community that includes every other minority group in roughly the same proportion as the general population. Our interactive experiences enrich us, give us the tools to deal with the vast differences the world presents, and strengthen us. We can learn to be more flexible and more courageous with each other, and for that lesson we are grateful.
We are thankful for the enormous political progress the LGBT community has made. Just twenty years ago it was difficult to find any elected officials who would stand up for our rights as LGBT citizens. Today we have gained the respect of political leaders, if not all of their support, and LGBT citizens are regularly included in the political dialogue at all levels. Just this month we witnessed the U.S. House of Representatives debate, discuss and finally approve the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It is not a perfect bill, especially because it does not include job protections for transgender people. However, most of the debate centered around costs and legal details, and only those considered extremely radical questioned whether LGBT people deserved to be treated as a legitimate group.
We are thankful for our LGBT organizations and all they do to help build and support each one of us. This year we got a wonderful new community center building in Ferndale. It wasn't easy – in fact it was incredibly difficult to raise the funds, build the building, move, and then adjust Affirmations' operations to fit the new facility. We are grateful that the dedicated staff and volunteers stuck together through this arduous process, because the result is a tremendous gift to us all. We are grateful for the many other organizations in Michigan – The Triangle Foundation, WRAP, Black Pride Society, Michigan Equality, PFLAG, The ACLU, all the employee groups, our religious organizations, Ruth Ellis Center and countless more. Each group's mission benefits every one of us, and we appreciate their contributions.
Finally, we are thankful for all the people that help produce BTL each and every week. Our staff, writers, editors, distributors, sales staff, designers and printers put in hundreds of hours every week to produce each edition. Thanks for all you do to help create our community's newspaper.