Thanks for giving

Its almost Thanksgiving Day and I realize that I have almost completed my first year at the Triangle Foundation. No, I didn't mean that to sound like a prison sentence at all. Although, some folks might say they have escaped from "T" block. My work is far from torture; Triangle Foundation is a great place to work with an amazing crew of people. The crew includes staff, trustees, former staff, volunteers and community members. Once you become associated with Triangle, its hard to break free. However, most people don't want to.

As such, I am having a great time working as an lgbt advocate in the state of Michigan. One aspect of the work that always shows up is the variety of the lgbtq community. As I think of Thanksgiving, I think of the variety of foods I will indulge: turkey, cabbage, ribs, spinach, tamales, greens, menudo, oysters, green beans, etc. This list is like the rich ethnic and racial diversity in our community including the Chippewa Indians, south Asians, Armenians, Irish, Ottawa Indians, Puerto Ricans, Italians, etc. Dont forget our Political varieties, from republicans to democrats to the "straight b____ who support lgbt rights" [honest, I saw this sign at the March in DC]. We run the spectrum of class differences. Even gender identity and appearance covers a huge cross section of difference within our community.

The one issue we all of hold in common, that keeps us together, is equality. We want to be governed fairly with the ability to love whomever we love to create our families. I work for equality for us all. No matter who you are in our mish-mash of alphabets, I work to create a better future for you.

Because of our differences, some of you may disagree with my methods on this journey to equality. Even so, I will not apologize for engaging people who support lesbians, gay, bisexuals and transgender people. I will not apologize for working with organization that believe LGBT people should lives free from violence and discrimination.

What I will do during this Thanksgiving, as I think of all of you who supported Triangle Foundation this year, for those who allowed me to do this work, I want to say "Thank You". I can't say thank you enough. Thank you for sending in donations, for spending your time licking envelopes, for passing out literature, for sending email or making phone calls to your legislative representatives.

Thank you for talking to your parents and your friends about the community. Thank you for insisting that your kids' teacher send letters home to both same gender parents. Thank you for calling us and reporting the incidents that you witness. Thank you for wanting equality as much as we do.

Have a Great Thanksgiving,

Alicia