Next Saturday, my good friends at Equality Michigan have their annual fundraising dinner at the Motor City Casino in Detroit. This year’s special guest is Richard Carlbom who is the Campaign Manager for Minnesotans United for All Families and Director of State Campaigns at Freedom to Marry. According to Equality Michigan, Carlbom will also be making “a special announcement you won’t want to miss!” [wiggly eyebrows]
In addition to the keynote speech and an evening of wonderful LGBT goodness, Equality Michigan will also be awarding its Catalyst Awards to recipients who have been leaders advancing the cause of Michigan’s LGBT community. This year’s recipients are an all-star cast:
Badlands Strategy is being presented the first-ever Catalyst Partner in Progress Award for engaging in behind-the-scenes work that too often gets overlooked.
Megan Bauer will receive this year’s Henry D. Messer Youth Activist Award for emerging as a powerful force in Michigan’s LGBT equality movement and currently serving as the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center’s Community Engagement Coordinator.
Lisa Brown and Barb Byrum will receive Catalyst Awards for their work as county clerks helping lead efforts to prepare to issue same-sex marriage licenses in Michigan.
Dusty Farmer will receive a Catalyst Award for playing a pivotal role in the recent passage Oshtemo Township’s LGBT inclusive non-discrimination ordinance as an Oshtemo Township Trustee.
KICK The Agency for LGBT African Americans will receive this year’s Heather MacAllister Catalyst Award for long-term commitment to equality and promoting intersectional work by serving Detroit’s African American LGBT communities since 1994.
Hank Milbourne is receiving the first-ever HIV Advocacy Catalyst Award for his years of amazing service to people living with HIV in Michigan, currently the Chief Program Officer at AIDS Partnership Michigan.
You can RSVP to the dinner on their Facebook page HERE. Order tickets HERE.
See you there!
