The Michele De Lafreniere Resource Center provides the community with the only single location to pick up all the community magazines, information on community events, brochures about health and wellness, social events and everything in between.
This is a comprehensive resource and referral center for the LGBT community,
the Michele de LaFreniere community resource center is more than a publication
drop event posting site. It entails programs that fulfill educational, social and
wellness needs throughout the Valley
For a complete online list of resources click the link below
The Community Resource Center is named in honor of Michele de LaFreniere,
Michele was a very prominent and visible member of the Phoenix area
transgender community. Originally from New York, she owned a Scottsdale
bicycle shop when she started transition, but negative community reaction forced
her to sell her business in 2005. Michele became involved in a very public fight
with a Scottsdale night club over claims of anti-transgender discrimination. She
rallied and organized the city’s transgender community toward political action in
a way that had never been done before. She became involved in many areas
and efforts of LGBT activism for the remainder of her life. Michele was appointed
to a seat on the Scottsdale Human Relations Commission in 2002, which is the
branch of Scottsdale city government overseeing human rights and equal
treatment of all citizens. She received the appointment while she was still living
as male. She transitioned while still on that body, and gained a second term, this
time as female. She became the commission chair, and is the only transsexual to
hold a position in Scottsdale city government. In 2007 while on the commission,
she proposed and pushed forward three ordinances to add sexual orientation and
gender identity to the Scottsdale City anti-discrimination policies in employment,
contracts, and public accommodations. Michele promoted and helped organize a large turnout of support at City Council meeting where they were voted on, and the ordinance for city employees passed. After the Arizona Prop 102 marriage amendment passed in November 2007, she became involved in HERO from the beginning, and was elected to the first HERO Steering Committee, and subsequently chosen as its first chair. Michele contracted melanoma in 2008, and she had to step away from political activism the spring of 2009. She was a dynamic, charismatic, larger than life character known and loved by many. She passed away October 30, 2009.
