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Up North Pride, ACLU of Michigan and local legal experts will host a legal question and answer session, Know Your RIghts: An LGBTQ+ Legal Q&A at the Traverse Area District Library at 6 pm on Wednesday, Jan. 22. The evening will include discussion on a variety of issues, especially with the incoming administration and possible changes that may impact the 2SLGBTQ+ community, led by Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project. “Based on the policy positions of the Trump campaign, we can anticipate that these will be challenging times for LGBTQ+ rights. It’s important to know about the issues, the current laws, and how all of us can play a role in ensuring that LGBTQ+ people are afforded full equality and fairness,” said Kaplan.

Up North Pride will host a Transgender Day of Remembrance Luminary Walk on Wednesday, Nov. 20, on the Leelanau TART Trail between Farm Club and the Fouch Road trailhead. The half-mile pathway will be lined with glowing luminary bags featuring the names of those being honored with the memorial event between 5:30 and 7 pm. Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is an annual observance that started in 1999 as a vigil for remembering and honoring all trans, gender diverse, intersex, and non-binary people who’ve lost their lives during the past year due to anti-transgender violence.

Leelanau County’s most remote village will host the final event of Pride Week for the fourth consecutive year. Sanctioned by Up North Pride and produced by The Chetcuti Evans Foundation, the Northport Tea Dance will take place at Faro on Sunday, Sept. 29, as a grand finale sendoff following a week of Traverse City-based celebrations centered around Northern Michigan’s queer community. The focus of this inclusive, family-friendly event is to create awareness and visibility for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Leelanau (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and the plus reflects the countless affirmative ways in which people choose to self-identify).

Sophie Gilroy came out to her parents last October. “My daughter told us she had bisexual feelings. She was nervous and sweaty, and she started to cry. She asked us, ‘Is that OK?’” her father Joseph remembered. Joseph saw that his daughter was struggling to feel included, to feel celebrated. Two weeks later he took Sophie to the inaugural Northport Pride Tea Dance at Northport Pub and Grill, an event organized by the Michael Chetcuti Foundation which headlined drag queen and reality television personality Scarlet Envy. The Tea Dance returns this year on Sunday, Oct. 2, from Noon to 4 p.m. and features drag star Kim Chi together with music by DJ Jace.