STATE-BY-STATE FACES OF PRIDE
It’s a diverse community that wants not only to be accepted — but also to be heard. As Pride Month comes to an end, listen to the voices of some of the LGBTQ community’s finest. You can find more inspiration at pride.usatoday.com.
ALABAMA META ELLIS “There is so much hatred going on … we have to emphasize how much the LGBTQ community is a great example of how to portray love.”
ALASKA JAMES HOAGLAND “As soon as we saw that the whole pride community just broke down in sadness ... but also with so much hope that even in our small community, something so profound could be done,” he said, referring to news of the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. ARIZONA JEFFREY LAZOS-FERNS “We want to hear those intimate stories of people who maybe were never in the limelight but still shaped who we are and our truth,” said Lazos-Ferns, who seeks to chronicle the “seismic shifts” in gay rights in Arizona. ARKANSAS KENDRA JOHNSON “Folks were really emboldened by this new administration to push forward (measures reducing LGBTQ rights) because they were given the green light by the federal government themselves.” CALIFORNIA DAVID ROTHMILLER AND LD THOMPSON “With these kids it’s pretty much certain they’re not going to be adopted, so they’ve lost their families,” said Rothmiller, a filmmaker who founded Sanctuary Palm Springs, a transitional home with his husband, LD Thompson. Sanctuary is designed to provide 18- to 21-year-olds who have aged out of foster care with stability, mentoring and staff support. COLORADO DANIEL RAMOS “We can only do so much with laws, the work ahead is changing the culture where all LGBTQ people can live openly and honestly in their community without fear of discrimination or harassment.” CONNECTICUT ROBIN MCHAELEN “What happens when a kid of color comes out can be very different from what happens when a white kid comes out. Getting the movement to focus on the needs of more than middle and upper class gay folks is really important in Connecticut, and I think really important nationally.” DELAWARE TRINITY NEAL “No matter how painful it is, I want to achieve my goals,” says the first transgender minor in Delaware to be approved by Medicaid for puberty blockers. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA JOHN ALLYN WELCH “Love yourself for who you are and give others the opportunity to love you for who you are. Don’t give in to fear. Be bold and have your voice heard so others may follow. And never apologize for living your most authentic life and for taking a stand.” FLORIDA ANNETTE TROSSBACH “I want them to feel that they’re embraced,” says Trossbach, who, along with her Fort Myers theater company, interviewed about 150 gay, lesbian and transgender students and turned their experiences into a series of theatrical scenes, stories, poems, monologues and songs. GEORGIA MOON CHARANIA “I think coming out stories get further complicated when you’re a person of color … in my case a Pakistani, and also a Muslim.” HAWAII SEAN SMITH “It’s about equality,” says Smith, who is working with pro-LGBT groups in the Aloha State to expand in vitro fertilization insurance coverage benefit to samesex couples. IDAHO NICOLE LEFAVOUR “I think people forget, that just living in a state like Idaho, and half the states are in the same situation, just being out is kind of an act of bravery.” ILLINOIS BRIAN JOHNSON “We hear stories over and over and over again from our community that there are many ways that we are not fully accepted or fully equal.” INDIANA ALAN BELMONT “It was honestly one of the most heartwarming feelings that I’ve ever felt,” says Belmont, the first transgender prom king at his high school. “I’m very happy to be the first at my school. But it’s bittersweet in that I’m the first, and that’s incredible. But we haven’t gotten there yet.” IOWA KATIE IMBOREK “You can’t find somebody who’s happier than a trans guy going to get his first injection,” says Imborek, who helps care for patients whose unique needs may go unmet at traditional facilities. KANSAS AARON JACKSON “For the last two years I’ve said, ‘When will people stop showing up? It’s got to die out,’ ” says Jackson, whose house across from Westboro Baptist Church has become a destination for LGBTQ advocates and an icon of opposition to its anti-gay neighbors known for picketing military funerals. KENTUCKY TIM LOVE “It killed the fear in me of these people. If they are that low, don’t you dare try to judge me,” says Love, recalling the funeral in which the partner of a gay couple was banished to the last row during the chapel service. LOUISIANA FRANK PEREZ “I was interested in local LGBT history and I was frustrated because there wasn’t a whole lot out there,” says Perez, the co-authored a book dedicated to gay culture and LGBT history: In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar. MAINE JEANNE DOOLEY “We need leaders of this country who get the challenges that marginalized populations are dealing with.” MARYLAND BARBARA ANNE FISHER “A big part of my ministry will be beyond the walls of the traditional Episcopal Church,” says Fisher, who plans to start a LGBT-centered ministry where she will minister to people who feel alien- ated by the church or to those still struggling with coming out. MASSACHUSETTS ROBERT CASE AND CHRIS TEAGUE “It’s why having laws that protect LGBT people are so important,” says Teague, recalling the adoption process. “I knew we had the law on our side and I knew that we were legally entitled to pursue this.” Teague and Case are now the proud parents to Anna, 9, and Christian, 5. MICHIGAN LILIANNA ANGEL REYES “It was scary, but I refused to live as a person I wasn’t. ... I was going to be who I was. I started to do more introspective thinking … what could I do as a trans woman of color? Who’s going to hire me?” She’s now program services director for Affirmations, a nonprofit that supports people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. MINNESOTA ASH FARAH “I learned at a young age it’s not always a great thing to be rare,” sayas Farah, who identifies as a transgender man and was born in a refugee camp in Kenya. MISSISSIPPI BRANDIILYNE MANGUM-DEAR “I had no idea what the LGBT community had gone through. When you find out you can no longer be in church because of who you are, that is devastating,” says Mangum-Dear, who was a preacher at a non-denominational Mississippi church where she was publicly outed after word spread of her relationship with her future wife, Susan. MISSOURI KRISTA MONCADO “We have to be tight-knit, we have to be close to each other, to support one another. For many of us, our LGBT family is our only family.” MONTANA DAVID HERRERA “There are LGBT individuals all over, even in rural parts of the country. As such, community centers that provide safe spaces for individuals become more important.” NEBRASKA DOMINIQUE MORGAN “The face of gayness or queerness, even in the trans revolution, is folks who identify as white,” says Morgan, the founder of Queer People of Color Nebraska. “You go to Pride and you don’t see anyone who looks like you. That’s sad to me.” NEVADA DAVID JENKINS “You joined and you signed on that dotted line with your blood. That makes you just as important as that other person who is heterosexual,” says Jenkins, who works to ensure LGBTQ veterans know they’re worthy — regardless of sexuality. NEW HAMPSHIRE STEPHEN MACINNES “I think where the country was, even where New Hampshire was at the time, I didn’t think at that time that that would be possible,” says MacInnes, who came out at the age of 52. NEW JERSEY CHRISTIAN FUSCARINO “Asbury Park has always been a community that has valued art and music, and I think that’s why there’s a precedent to hav- ing an LGBTQ community here.” NEW MEXICO PJ SEDILLO “I guess I came to the realization that I needed to be sort of that voice for that person who was hiding behind the building,” says Sedillo, who has fought to help secure non-discrimination rights for LGBT teachers in Albuquerque public schools. NEW YORK TONYA NOEL STEVENS “The Pride movement needs not to just talk about diversity and inclusion, but actually make those spaces. It’s definitely a day-to-day struggle.” NORTH CAROLINA RORY PHILBRICK “The message is: ‘If the president does it, why can’t I?’ ” says Philbrick, who dropped out of high school after coming out as a pansexual transgender male. He said the bullying got to be too much. “All the talking, everything he says, that’s going to encourage them to mess with people who are not straight.” NORTH DAKOTA JONATHAN FRYE “I remember when I was younger feeling like I was alone, nobody else felt the way I did, and nobody else ever would. Afterwards, I felt like I could just be myself.” OHIO BONNIE AND KATIE MEYER “I spend my days working with a population of students who often struggle: whose parents don’t support them, who are disowned, who are struggling with their identity and feel completely alone. I feel grateful every day that I am able to do this work,” says Meyer, the founder of the Northern Kentucky University LGBTQ programs and services office. OKLAHOMA MARY AND SHARON BISHOP-BALDWIN “We always knew we were right, and we should have the same rights as everyone else,” says Mary Bishop-Baldwin, who, along with her wife, fought a 10-year legal battle for her marriage to be recognized by the state. They were the first same-sex couple to receive their marriage license in
Oklahoma. OREGON JAMIE SHUPE “I’m really proud that I did this, but the fame of it is a big burden. And I didn’t do it to get famous, I did it because it had to be done,” says Shupe, who made history after being granted the legal distinction of gender nonbinary, which means identifying as neither male nor female.
PENNSYLVANIA LORI RIDDLE “I may not save the world, but I can save these 40 kids that show up in my room,” says Riddle, whose classroom has been a safe space for students with LGBTQ issues.
RHODE ISLAND VANESSA FLORES-MALDONADO “It’s not enough to say Black Lives Matter. How are you actively working to protect trans lives (of color) and make sure they don’t just become another hashtag?” SOUTH CAROLINA CAPRI CULPEPPER “There is a lot of fear surrounding the term ‘transgender.’ When people get to know us, they can see that fear is based on misconcep- tions. We are just humans trying to live our lives authentically.” SOUTH DAKOTA ADAM JORGENSEN “It just kind of shows that we’re all people,” says Jorgensen, a board member of Sioux Falls Center for Equality, referring to the popularity of his community’s Pride week. “That’s just the message that we’re trying to drive that we’re all in this together.” TENNESSEE LISA HOWE “Pride festival gives people this safe space where they can just be themselves, really, without fear of being bullied, or hopefully, without fear of losing a job.” TEXAS KORBIN “BOOMER” MATTHEWS “I’m just a South Texas gay trying to make his way,” says Matthews, an active member of South Texas’ LGBTQIA community who’s working to change minds and correct misconceptions about his community. UTAH JACKIE BISKUPSKI “Salt Lake City is its own little entity within a very big red sea here,” says Bikuspki, the first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City. “Whether you’re a refugee or an immigrant, whether you are gay or straight, in this city we are building a community for everyone.” VERMONT WILLIE DOCTO AND GREG TRULSON “We did not realize how much so when we first moved up here,” says Docto about Vermont being a progressive state, especially when it comes to gay rights. VIRGINIA BILL HARRISON “A lot has changed here in Virginia,” says Harrison, who has been involved with the state’s LGBT community for nearly four decades. WASHINGTON MONISHA HARRELL “The LGBTQ community is broader and much more diverse than what we’ve seen it portrayed in the media.” WEST VIRGINIA SAMANTHA BROOKOVER AND AMANDA ABRAMOVICH “I don’t want anyone else to feel the way we felt,” says Brookover, who was turned away at the tiny Gilmer County, W.Va., courthouse and is now a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against the county, the clerk and her supervisor. WISCONSIN EMILY MILLS “Pride is great to celebrate and be proud and have fun, but we also need to remember that the first pride was a riot. It was a riot against oppression and
violence.” WYOMING ASHLIE SCHMIDT AND GAGE WILLIAMS “Am I going to kill my bar business because I’m having a pride event there?” Schmidt says she asked herself after her son asked to host an event at her bar billed as the “Big Gay Christmas Party.” The event was a smashing success.