From the Editor: Congratulations!

First of all, congratulations to the Lavender Magazine Community Awards Winners and to our list of LGBTQ Under 40 featured in this issue! You are all amazing contributors to our community!

To navigate this issue, we have our second and final part of our celebration of Twin Cities Pride’s 50^th anniversary. Go ahead and the flip the magazine over to read more about our history and community as part of this great celebration. 

Then, flip your magazine one more time right-side-up. There we feature eight worthy recipients of the LavenderMagazine Community Awards. They represent many facets of our community – from organizations to businesses to worthy individuals who have given us light, leadership, and love. 

Some of these names may be familiar to you. Their years of activism, leadership, and organization may just be household names by now – some of them actually are. For example, we have three wonderful leaders – two of which are from the spiritual community – who have been on the forefront of this community for decades. 

There is a large corporation who have created ways to engage with their LGBTQ employees from their headquarters down to their retail locations. Our nonprofit award winner has been providing services to the HIV/AIDS community for a very long time – and has been evolving on the delivery of their services to meet today’s challenges. 

This year, we also focus on their work not just here in the Twin Cities, but beyond. One of our award winners is a restaurant in Duluth that serves up good food and community. Another is a leader and organizer in the Fergus Falls area providing a safe space for LGBTQ youth. The trans community is represented by two dynamic leaders in the Fargo-Moorhead area providing a beacon for a larger territory that goes beyond state lines. 

This issue also gives you the leaders of our future. Those who are under the age of 40 and prime to take our community to the next level. They also represent a gamut of positions within our community from entrepreneurship, spiritual leadership, student leadership, and more. 

Recognizing today’s and future leaders in our community is an important part of what this magazine does. It assures us that we are in good hands. However, there are a lot more leaders we will recognize in the years to come. There will be more leaders I have yet to meet. 

After you read this issue, I will be ramping up my radar to see how will make 2023’s list. 

In the meantime, join me in congratulating the winners of the Lavender Magazine Community Awards and our LGBTQ Under 40 list. They will receive their recognition at our July 7 First Thursday at the Delta Hotel in Minneapolis. 

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: After sending this issue to the printers, I learned that the son of one of our Lavender Magazine Community Awards winners passed away tragically on June 8 at the age of 20. Jette Kriston Frandson was the main reason why Krystyne Frandson started SAGA Youth in Fergus Falls. I was looking forward to meeting her and Jette when they came down for the July First Thursday when she picks up her award.

You can read the story on our profile of Frandson in this magazine.

I am personally dedicating this entire issue in Jette’s memory.

Jette’s generation are the ones should celebrate this Pride season – at every Pride in our region. It is why I am in this position at Lavender. Let’s dedicate ourselves to uplifting our young LGBTQ community members in the name of Jette Kriston Frandson.

Thank you.