November 18th, 2005

Transgender Day of Remembrance: November 20th, 2005. The Transgender Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 to commemorate those who have lost their lives to transphobia and violence. COLAGE joins countless communities, families, and individuals in remembering our loved ones on this day.

In particular, COLAGE remembers Marcelle Y. Cook-Daniels who died at age 40 on April 21, 2000 as a result of suicide following a lifelong battle with clinical depression. A quiet but very dedicated and principled activist, he was known for his work in raising awareness about transgender and lesbian/gay people and for his efforts to promote and support his family values of love, commitment, honesty, openness, and public service. Interviews and/or photographs of him appear in the "Love Makes A Family" book and tour; Dawn Atkin's book "Looking Queer: Body Image and Identity in Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Communities," and "In The Family" magazine. As a parent, he was an active supporter of COLAGE and also provided material and volunteer support to the Transgender Aging Network, four True Spirit conferences, and The American Boyz. Marcelle is survived by his partner Loree Cook-Daniels and son Kai. COLAGE maintains a memorial fund in his honor. To find out more, go to http://www.colage.org/support/dedicate.htm.

World AIDS Day: December 1st, 2005. The first World AIDS day was on December 1st, 1988. It is an international day of action to raise awareness of and demand government attention to the ongoing AIDS pandemic. On this day, COLAGE particularly celebrates Stefan and Michael Lynch. Stefan Lynch was the first Executive Director of COLAGE. After his father, Michael Lynch died due to complications of AIDS, Stefan used his inheritance to act as the volunteer Director of COLAGE- enabling the organization to grow in great strides, maintain its first office space, and increase its programming nationally. Our strong history rests on the shoulders and support of Michael and countless other gay fathers who passed in the beginning of the AIDS academic and the brave young adults who survived their parents to grow the COLAGE community. The NAMES Project includes a quilt panel dedicated to parents who have died of AIDS. It reads, "For our parents with whom we will never again dance, talk, sing, hug, argue, laugh, walk, paint, play catch or football or basketball or soccer, do homework, ice skate, hold, celebrate birthdays and holidays, visit, fight, walk the dog, make food, tell stories go shopping kiss, cry, see." For more information about how you can get involved with World AIDS Day in your area, go to: www.worldaidscampaign.net