LGBT Detroit creates community for Metro Detroiters: "We're here to help"
(CBS DETROIT) - "So people like me, we live in the intersection of what is to be a Black and brown-skinned person and a person who is attracted to the same gender," said A. Nzere Kwabena, executive director of LGBT Detroit.
LGBT Detroit was born out of necessity. The group is more than just the space to be free. As one of the longest-running Black organizations of its kind, it's also about advocacy.
"It was heavily inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, pretty much the modern, mid-century movement. Soon after that, gays wanted space, like any group of people want space just to be free." Kwabena said.
"There was a need for activism around the HIV epidemic. And a number of people were forming any kind of [institutional] support group, any kind of service to provide housing, food, health care, met health care all around people that were diagnosed HIV positive, and unfortunately, die. This company is rooted from any activism."
LGBT Detroit offers support and resources for people who otherwise, may not have anywhere else to turn.
"You come to LGBT Detroit to get filled up, like especially you think a lot of people in this community ... are told that they don't matter are cast away, and just like really reduced. So I would say that LGBT choice is an inflation machine that fills you with a substance as you already are filled up, and helps you recognize your potential and your worth in the community," said Stoyan Francis, advisor at LGBT Detroit.
There, the conversations are plentiful, and the love is limitless.
"Yes, there are some days and some families where is hard, and that's why we're here to help," Kwabena said.