ABOUT JOE HALSCH:
"I’m a 38-year-old cisgender gay man, happily married to my wonderful and supportive husband, Tramane. We live in Saline with our dog, Jack Jack."
"I moved to Ann Arbor in 2014 and quickly found a true sense of home in Southeast Michigan. I’ve been volunteering with Ann Arbor Pride and the Jim Toy Community Center for the past 10 years. In 2020, I was elected President of the Board and have since led efforts to grow the organization as we emerged from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic."
"In November 2024, we received the keys to our new Community Center, and by January, we began hosting groups, events, and gatherings. Today, the Jim Toy Center is home to more than 18 different social, support, and advocacy groups serving the LGBTQ+ community across Washtenaw County."
"Outside of my nonprofit work, I’m a recruiter for a global software company."
RESOURCES:
Jim Toy Community Center on Facebook
Jim Toy Community Center on Instagram
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to another edition of Washtenaw United. This is our weekly exploration of equity and opportunity in our community. I'm David Fair, and our get-together today comes as we wind down Pride Month. It's a month-long celebration of the LGBTQ-plus community, focusing on contributions, achievements, and the ongoing fight for equality. In recent years, it has truly felt like a celebration, but I sense something different this year. Our guest today is Joe Halsch, and Joe is executive director of the Jim Toy Community Center in Ann Arbor, which is home to more than 18 different social support and advocacy groups serving the LGBTQ-plus community in Washtenaw County. Thanks for making time today, Joe! I appreciate it!
Joe Halsch: I appreciate the invite! Pleasure to be here!
David Fair: It seems apparent and maybe even obvious that the attacks on DEI programs have given Pride Month a different tone this year. What's your take on it?
Joe Halsch: Yeah, I think it's really astute. Like you were saying, there's been a lot of progression and a lot a reason for celebration. And I think this year is serving as a nice reminder of our history and where pride comes from. Pride started back as a riot, as a protest, as a demonstration and standing up for the strength and unity of the LGBTQ community. As you rightfully pointed out, there's attacks on a political level and on a private level. There's a lot of people withdrawing from the community or withdrawing their support from the community. So, this year, there's still some similarities of celebration and building the community. Absolutely, you know? When you go to a Pride celebration, you're going to find a bunch of people that love and support you for exactly who you are. And I want people to be able to enjoy that. But there's always going to be other people there that are going to give people opportunity to help people find their advocacy and what their advocacy looks like this year. It could be a march or a demonstration. It also could be something as easy as reaching out to a loved one in the LGBTQ community and let them know that they're loved and supported.
David Fair: So, we're just over six months into this new federal administration, and there are three-and-a-half years to go. So, what strategies are being employed and considered to defend the hard-fought gains that have been made in the LGBTQ-plus community?
Joe Halsch: Yeah, I've seen a lot of circling the wagons right now in the nonprofit community. And I think that circling of the wagons actually extends beyond the LGBTQ community. In Washtenaw County, we're fortunate enough to have a wide variety of nonprofits. And in the LGBTQ world, there is a lot intersectionality. And so, we at the center are taking advantage of that, understanding where other needs are coming from, who's impacted by what and figuring out what we can do to support and combine efforts, as opposed to withdrawing or staying in our own groups.
David Fair: I want to talk a little bit about timing. It was in November of 2024; President Trump won the election. And that same month, you took possession of the new bricks-and-mortar location of the Jim Toy Center. What has been the energy inside those walls with all of the DEI changes taking place in the world around it?
Joe Halsch: Yeah, we've been able to take advantage of people's feelings and emotions. You know, people have a variety of different reactions to what's going on in the world today. And really, with the new community center, we have been able really harness those energies and allow people, as opposed to only panic and worry, to be able to contribute and grow in safe spaces. For some, it was a parent's group. A group of parents were upset that all these things were happening and wanted to protect their children. And so, we brought everyone together. Other groups, it was a book club--something simple just to stick together and be together in those moments of when we're feeling alone.
David Fair: Washtenaw United and our conversation with Jim Toy Community Center executive director Joe Halsch continues on 89.1 WEMU. The National Crime Victimization Survey shows that members of the LGBTQ community are five times as likely to be a victim of violent crime than the nation as a whole. I certainly have concerns and wonder if you do too that these shifts in federal policy and direction of public discourse could exacerbate that problem.
Joe Halsch: I believe so. I do feel and experience the rhetoric in the nation getting more hostile, and people are feeling more emboldened to say more hurtful things, unfortunately. It's tough!
David Fair: It's going to take you back to a degree. If I remember correctly, it was a violent mass shooting that prompted you to become directly involved in advocacy work.
Joe Halsch: You're exactly right! It was the Pulse shooting down in Orlando, Florida that really kind of opened my eyes to the bigger picture. I wanted to take a personal responsibility for developing safe, collaborative, healthy, strong communities locally.
David Fair: If you don't mind, I'd like to dive a little further into the personal. You identify as a cisgender, happily married gay man. I'm curious. When looking at the bias that you and your husband may have to contend with today, do you find it to be more systemic, overt, or perhaps some of both?
Joe Halsch: I think all the above. It's not unfamiliar to have to look over your shoulder, making sure that you're in a safe environment, making sure when we go out that we're in a safe place. Fortunately enough, we've been a part of this community for 10 years where we know what places we enjoy going to, what places have family with and community with, and other areas where we might want to distance ourselves or keep that space from.
David Fair: Once again, this is 89.1 WEMU, and our Washtenaw United guest today is Joe Halsch, the executive director of the Jim Toy Community Center in Ann Arbor. And while Pride Month is wrapping up as we bring June to a close, Ann Arbor Pride is going to be held on Saturday, August 2nd. And, Jim, before we talk about the Ann Arbor Pride event in specific, I'm curious as to how vital partnership and alliance is in LGBTQ advocacy work.
Joe Halsch: Personally, I think it's everything. It's how I build my advocacy and what my advocacy looks like. It's just building a strong partnerships between companies and nonprofit providers that community leaders that want to strengthen. We're certainly not a monolith, and there's a whole bunch of perspectives in the LGBTQ community. So, the more that we can foster and leverage those types of conversations and those relationships, again, the intersectionality, I think, the stronger we become as a community.
David Fair: I know the Jim Toy Center doesn't receive direct federal funding, but I am curious as to whether there is impact because of cuts that have directly affected some of your partnership alliances and other nonprofits and supportive organizations in the community.
Joe Halsch: Yeah, that's correct. We don't have any federal funding, so that part we were not impacted by, though several of our partners and colleagues in the Washtenaw area were. Our impacts were more hit in the DEI rollbacks in the corporate world and the lessening of those sponsorships. With that being said, the small businesses in Washtenaw County, the local businesses in our area, really stepped up in donating what they can or sending people. There's been a lot of increase in volunteers and people wanting to figure out what that additional contribution can look like to help bridge some of those gaps.
David Fair: With the changes in the economic situation and in terms of human resources, is it going to have an impact on this year's Ann Arbor Pride event on August 2nd?
Joe Halsch: We're actually gearing up for our largest yet. We've been able to continue growing each year since 2020 and happy to share that the community is, again, pulled together. This year, we're expecting about 200 vendors, about 20 more than we did last year. And then, on the two stages, we are extending out our entertainment on the community stage, bringing in more diverse groups of people to show their expression of love and art and demonstration on the stages. And we're also planning for attendee increases. We're kind of seeing that across the board where people are reminded of the importance of these community spaces and community events. And so, we're planning for about 15,000 people throughout the day.
David Fair: What do you hope the takeaway will be from this year's event? It just feels like it has to have more weight than maybe we've seen over the past few.
Joe Halsch: You know, honestly, there's been a lot of cross-generational collaboration this year. I look at the younger generation who might not have participated in the fight for marriage equality, or the AIDS crisis have been around for there, or Stonewall itself. And it's been a nice reminder for those who haven't had a part of these equality struggles--a reminder of where LGBTQ people come from. Though we're not genetically the same, we share a lot of these traits that really keep us strong and resilient and give us the ability to change over time. So, when we can bridge the gap in those stories of where we've been and where we're going, it makes people feel less lonely. It incorporates the older generations to be thankful for their fight and their struggle and then to be able to pass on that torch to the next generation that continue the fight and and the good work that people have done for us.
David Fair: Well, Joe, thank you so much for the conversation and your insights! I appreciate it!
Joe Halsch: Thanks, Dave! I appreciate your time!
David Fair: That is Joe Halsch, executive director of the Jim Toy Community Center in Ann Arbor. The end of June will bring Pride Month to a close, but, again, Ann Arbor Pride is still to come and will be held Saturday, August 2nd. For more information, stop by our website at WEMU.org. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you hear it every Monday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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