Ellen Shanna Knoppow
Michigan Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination: Interview with Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell
Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination is a bipartisan coalition of municipal leaders dedicated to securing inclusive non-discrimination protections for all at every level of government. Openly gay Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell is part of the program, [...]
I.D.entity Accepted
Kalamazoo County Has a Brand-New ID Program … and Norah Getz Wants to Tell You All About It On May 2 Kalamazoo County rolled out its new ID program after more than year of hard work and packed community meetings. Designed for people who are able to [...]
Tracy Hall: I Am Who I Am
"When Women Run, Women Win" – Theme of Tracy Hall's re-election kickoff event Tracy Hall had always loved politics but never anticipated a career as an elected official. "I was one of those weird — and I mean this in a really nice way — [...]
Ryan Sebolt: 'I Want Us to Be a Voice at the Table'
Ryan Sebolt had a good reason for arriving late to his interview with Between The Lines. The openly gay Democrat running for a second term on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners had just participated in the Pride March and Rally on June 16 at [...]
Garnet Lewis: Trailblazer
"Honesty. Integrity. A Voice for You" garnetlewisforstatesenate.com When Between The Lines caught up with Garnet Lewis, Democratic candidate for Michigan's 26th State Senate District, she had just finished a campaign-related breakfast meeting at the [...]
Michigan Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination: Q & A with Ypsilanti Mayor Amanda Edmonds
As BTL continues the Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination series, we hear from Amanda Edmonds, Ypsilanti's openly lesbian mayor who ran unopposed in 2014 after winning her primary in a landslide. Edmonds announced in a statement last month – which can [...]
Michigan Mayors Against Discrimination
Last April, Between The Lines ran "Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination: One Mayor's Story", a profile of Royal Oak Mayor Mike Fournier regarding his membership in the newly-formed coalition. He spoke proudly of his city's inclusive human rights [...]
SAGE Offers New Program to Combat Loneliness and Isolation of LGBTQ Elders
Keisha Watkins-Dukhie, SAGE Friendly Caller Program Coordinator. "We have all known the long loneliness, and we found that the answer is community." –Dorothy Day During a recent shift at the Affirmations Welcome Desk, a visitor who was new to [...]
GLSEN: Championing LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Education
"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured." – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. When he came out at the [...]
Planned Parenthood and the LGBTQ Community: What You Should Know
Care. No Matter What. — Planned Parenthood Birth control and abortion. For many people, that's what comes to mind when they think of Planned Parenthood. But did you know that they offer a full range of services, from HIV testing and [...]
What's in a Name (and Gender Marker)?
Jazz McGinnis "I would rather make my name than inherit it." – William Makepeace Thackery At the age of 18, Jazz McGinnis embarked on a journey. As a transgender man, this was neither his physical nor emotional journey – it was a legal one: [...]
Mayors Against LGBT Discrimination: One Mayor's Story
Royal Oak Mayor Mike Fournier Detroit, Grand Rapids, Royal Oak, Pleasant Ridge, Okemos, Highland Park, Traverse City, Ypsilanti, Kalamazoo, Bay City, Ann Arbor, Ferndale, Delta Charter Township, East Lansing, Southfield, Sterling Heights. If [...]