Monday, June 27, 2011

West Michigan Pride


Myself (left) and three of our volunteers: Ami, Steph, and Seth (Christine was behind the camera).

On June 18, I had the opportunity to attend West Michigan Pride in Grand Rapids, MI.

The Saturday morning drive up from Detroit was fantastic. I was accompanied by one of our regular volunteers, Ami, and we chatted excitedly and enjoyed the rural scenery along I-96. Rain had been predicted in the morning hours, but we didn’t encounter a single drop during our trip.

After checking into our hotel, we headed over to Comstock Riverside Park. Not having been to West Michigan Pride before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, although I had heard last year’s location had not been very pleasant-lots of dirt and little shade. Riverside possessed an abundance of trees and made a fairly comfortable location, much to my relief. My only complaint was with the distant parking areas, though large golf carts were provided to shuttle vendors to-and-from their cars with their supplies, negating the distance.

By chance, our table was adjacent to that of Public Reality Radio, a local talk radio station, and they expressed interest in interviewing TGMI for one of their segments. Be sure to watch our website for further information!

As at every Pride event, we chatted with members of the local trans community, many of whom expressed interest in volunteering in the future, and networked with the several trans-specific/trans-inclusive groups that attended. Creating a more unified effort between Grand Rapids groups and TGMI is on our "to-do" list.

Overall, while we didn’t run out of brochures like we did at Michigan Pride in Lansing, we still spoke to a large number of people, many unaware of our existence. I even got contact information from a local gender therapist who wasn’t on our TransPages! Every little bit helps.

At the end of the day, all of us-Ami, Steph, Seth, Christine, and myself-were tired, but very satisfied. The event had gone very well. Now, we are excited to start networking with other groups in Michigan and planning TGMI’s future.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Michigan Pride, Lansing

By Rachel Crandall

Today we were at Michigan Pride and it felt a bit like a family reunion.  I used to live in the Lansing area for many years before moving to the Detroit area.

Sara, Emma, & Rachel at Michigan Pride
I got to re-unite with many old friends and meet with many new friends.

However there is a shortage of support groups in Lansing.  It is definitely clear that there is a demand for a support group in the Lansing area.  In fact we had more traffic and requests for information at our booth in Lansing than we did at Motor City Pride.

But today we made a number of contacts which may lead to a viable support group, including a local church that is interested in hosting the group.  Hopefully we will be able soon to announce the successful start of this group.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Lansing Meet & Greet


Rachel Crandall before Meet & Greet
Thank you everyone who came to the Transgender Michigan Lansing area Meet & Greet last night.

Some important networking was done. We hope this leads to a stronger transgender community in Lansing.

Prior to this event none of the attendees had met each other.  It is with events like this we strive to bring transgender communities together.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Can We Talk?

Due to public demand we are starting the Transgender Michigan Blog.

Here we will talk about issues important to the transgender communities of Michigan. Please let us know what you want to talk about.