Chrissy64_uk
26-12-2009, 05:07 PM
In the USA
Her body wracked with cancer, Michele de LaFreniere still made it a point to travel to Mesa on Oct. 1.
She needed a wheelchair to get around, but the activist attended a Human Relations Advisory Board meeting to urge officials to create a domestic-partner registry in Mesa. Registries allow unmarried couples, gay or straight, to publicly record that they are in a committed relationship, granting them rights such as permission to visit each other in the hospital.
Her health was failing and she had been fighting cancer since 2007, but de LaFreniere was committed to speaking in favor of the registry.
It turned out to be one of her last political acts.
Days after the meeting, de LaFreniere was in intensive care.
On Oct. 30, she died.
Those who knew de LaFreniere say her death quiets an important voice in the Valley's gay community.
Considered one of Arizona's most vocal transgender activists, de LaFreniere is famous for the national media storm she ignited in Scottsdale when she filed a discrimination complaint against the owner of a downtown nightclub, Anderson's Fifth Estate.
In 2006, club owner Tom Anderson banned de LaFreniere and her friends from his bar after receiving complaints that transgender customers were using the women's restroom.
The discrimination suit turned de LaFreniere into a target of criticism and ridicule.
For almost a year, the controversy received high-profile attention and captured the interest of media outlets including "The Today Show" and "World News Tonight." The argument was settled after Equality Arizona, a statewide gay-advocacy organization, mediated the dispute and Anderson agreed to convert one restroom into a unisex facility.
Sam Holdren was Equality Arizona's public-affairs director at the time and said de LaFreniere was a "true leader willing to stand up and fight despite the backlash she might face personally."
The controversy between Anderson and de LaFreniere was painted in the media as a battle between an intolerant club owner and a transgender activist.
Anderson disputes the characterization: "I became a poster boy for the right wing, and that's not me."
Anderson eventually converted Anderson's Fifth Estate into Forbidden Night Club, one of the few venues in Scottsdale that caters to the gay community.
While they disagreed, Anderson said he and de LaFreniere were friends before the ban and remained so after the issue was settled. Just this year, he hosted de LaFreniere's 54th birthday party and a fundraiser for her at Forbidden. That night, she danced to '80s music, her favorite kind, and was crowned the "Dancing Queen."
Anderson's wife was with de LaFreniere hours before she died, and Anderson was with her the day before.
"Through my friendship with her, I really got enlightened more to people who live a different lifestyle, not by choice but by the way they were made," Anderson said. "The transgender community lost a spokesperson and a figurehead. My wife and I lost a very good friend."
de LaFreniere was a founder of Arizona TransAlliance, an advocacy group for the transgender community.
"She was our rallying figure," said Erica Keppler, a friend of de LaFreniere who heads Arizona TransAlliance. "We don't have anybody in our league to fill those shoes."
Michele de LaFreniere was born in 1955 as Kenneth Culver. In a 2007 interview with The Arizona Republic, de LaFreniere said she identified as a woman at around 6 years old.
As Culver, de LaFreniere owned a bike shop in Scottsdale and was known as "Doc." It wasn't until 2004 that Culver transitioned to living as a woman and took the name de LaFreniere.
In 2002, Culver was appointed to the Scottsdale Human Relations Commission,reappointed to a second term and eventually served as the group's chair.
While serving on the Human Relations Commission, de LaFreniere was part of an effort that pushed Scottsdale to change its policies to extend equal-employment protection to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
Keppler and others say beyond de LaFreniere's advocacy, they'll remember her big personality.
"She owned every room she walked into," Keppler said. "She had a tremendous ability to connect with people and make friends everywhere she went."
Holdren said de LaFreniere was an inspiration.
"She fought back, and very aggressively, for the community, her dignity and the dignity of the transgender community," Holdren said. "She leaves a very strong legacy of advocacy and one that inspires others to be themselves."
Her body wracked with cancer, Michele de LaFreniere still made it a point to travel to Mesa on Oct. 1.
She needed a wheelchair to get around, but the activist attended a Human Relations Advisory Board meeting to urge officials to create a domestic-partner registry in Mesa. Registries allow unmarried couples, gay or straight, to publicly record that they are in a committed relationship, granting them rights such as permission to visit each other in the hospital.
Her health was failing and she had been fighting cancer since 2007, but de LaFreniere was committed to speaking in favor of the registry.
It turned out to be one of her last political acts.
Days after the meeting, de LaFreniere was in intensive care.
On Oct. 30, she died.
Those who knew de LaFreniere say her death quiets an important voice in the Valley's gay community.
Considered one of Arizona's most vocal transgender activists, de LaFreniere is famous for the national media storm she ignited in Scottsdale when she filed a discrimination complaint against the owner of a downtown nightclub, Anderson's Fifth Estate.
In 2006, club owner Tom Anderson banned de LaFreniere and her friends from his bar after receiving complaints that transgender customers were using the women's restroom.
The discrimination suit turned de LaFreniere into a target of criticism and ridicule.
For almost a year, the controversy received high-profile attention and captured the interest of media outlets including "The Today Show" and "World News Tonight." The argument was settled after Equality Arizona, a statewide gay-advocacy organization, mediated the dispute and Anderson agreed to convert one restroom into a unisex facility.
Sam Holdren was Equality Arizona's public-affairs director at the time and said de LaFreniere was a "true leader willing to stand up and fight despite the backlash she might face personally."
The controversy between Anderson and de LaFreniere was painted in the media as a battle between an intolerant club owner and a transgender activist.
Anderson disputes the characterization: "I became a poster boy for the right wing, and that's not me."
Anderson eventually converted Anderson's Fifth Estate into Forbidden Night Club, one of the few venues in Scottsdale that caters to the gay community.
While they disagreed, Anderson said he and de LaFreniere were friends before the ban and remained so after the issue was settled. Just this year, he hosted de LaFreniere's 54th birthday party and a fundraiser for her at Forbidden. That night, she danced to '80s music, her favorite kind, and was crowned the "Dancing Queen."
Anderson's wife was with de LaFreniere hours before she died, and Anderson was with her the day before.
"Through my friendship with her, I really got enlightened more to people who live a different lifestyle, not by choice but by the way they were made," Anderson said. "The transgender community lost a spokesperson and a figurehead. My wife and I lost a very good friend."
de LaFreniere was a founder of Arizona TransAlliance, an advocacy group for the transgender community.
"She was our rallying figure," said Erica Keppler, a friend of de LaFreniere who heads Arizona TransAlliance. "We don't have anybody in our league to fill those shoes."
Michele de LaFreniere was born in 1955 as Kenneth Culver. In a 2007 interview with The Arizona Republic, de LaFreniere said she identified as a woman at around 6 years old.
As Culver, de LaFreniere owned a bike shop in Scottsdale and was known as "Doc." It wasn't until 2004 that Culver transitioned to living as a woman and took the name de LaFreniere.
In 2002, Culver was appointed to the Scottsdale Human Relations Commission,reappointed to a second term and eventually served as the group's chair.
While serving on the Human Relations Commission, de LaFreniere was part of an effort that pushed Scottsdale to change its policies to extend equal-employment protection to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
Keppler and others say beyond de LaFreniere's advocacy, they'll remember her big personality.
"She owned every room she walked into," Keppler said. "She had a tremendous ability to connect with people and make friends everywhere she went."
Holdren said de LaFreniere was an inspiration.
"She fought back, and very aggressively, for the community, her dignity and the dignity of the transgender community," Holdren said. "She leaves a very strong legacy of advocacy and one that inspires others to be themselves."