History of Lifting Our Voices for Equality, Inc. (L.O.V.E.)
In August of 2004, discussion poured out of the mouths of members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community at an Atlanta GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) Black Pride seminar focusing on homophobia and the African American church. The pain realized by the attendees made almost everyone’s hearts heavy as attendee after attendee described stories about the oppression they had experienced either from the African American community or its church bodies. It was apparent that something had to be done, and therefore, Stephon Collins addressed the room, requesting that all attendees interested in discussing methods of freeing our communities from this oppression sign up to attend a meeting.
Two weeks later, the group met to brainstorm and create “freedom methods” and as a result the L.O.V.E. Coalition was formed. Lifting Our Voices for Equality, Inc. (L.O.V.E.) is an organization that is committed to healing the GLBT community, and establishing political, social, economic and religious equality for people of color and all humankind. The original founding members are Stephon Collins (President/Founder), Zina Age, Lavell Beaty, DeeDee Chamblee, Lisa Kitchen (Membership Coordinator), ChieStine Lawrence (Vice President), Crystal Lawrence (Secretary), Vada Mitchell, Kwajo Osteen, Jessica Sims and CeCe Winslow.
Since its inception, the L.O.V.E. Coalition has sparked discussion to change the hearts of all members of our communities, knowing that true change comes when the heart has been changed. L.O.V.E. has sponsored community forums such as a “Homophobia in the Black Church” panel discussion in October of 2004, and a Political and Community Awareness forum in January of 2005. In addition, L.O.V.E. volunteers its time to aid other organizations in the community such as Youth Pride and In The Life Atlanta. In addition to educating our community, L.O.V.E. is in the development stages for creating a community safe haven for GLBT youth. This home will house youth that have no homes and provide an atmosphere for all GLBT youth to be educated and encouraged. L.O.V.E. is committed to being a positive voice in the GLBT community for people of all color, as it believes that the key to changing our communities to hard work and love.
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