Congrats: Michael Glirbas, Barbara Satin and Ann DeGroot

University of St. Thomas staffer Michael Glirbas honored with the Diversity Leadership Staff Award. I've had the opportunity to work with Glirbas on a number of community efforts over the years and he is an energetic and dedicated fella! From St. Thomas:

Glirbas, who works in the Registrar’s office, has been a health education intern with the Minnesota AIDS Project (MAP) during his time at St. Thomas. He majored in Justice and Peace Studies, which inspired him to be a servant to others. Glirbas has assisted MAP staff with numerous projects. His work with creating a hospitable campus climate for Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (GLBT) students and staff has not gone unnoticed. Glirbas joined a group of Allies on two occasions – one hosted by St. Thomas and one by Hamline – whereby the ACTC Networking Conferences brought together the five GLBT student-lead organizations, and their faculty and staff allies.

He has been an active participant of the UST SafeZone Project for the past six years and has actively participated in a number of diversity work-groups responsible for the implementation of the 2007 campus climate survey. Glirbas has served as co-chair for the CommUNITY Week Celebrations at UST in 2006 and 2007 as well as co-chair for Tommie Pride: Day of Caring and Sharing. He continues to assist the campus with identifying speakers and organizations to help make St. Thomas a more inclusive campus. In fall 2007, Glirbas was one of three staff members who assisted in creating a campus climate discussion group.

If you haven't met transgender activist Barbara Satin yet, you should. She's been hard at work creating community for older LGBT Minnesotans and was honored at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change conference in Detroit, Mich., last week: "The 73-year-old helped make possible the ongoing construction of 41 housing units for LGBT seniors above the Minnesota church “City of the Lakes” and she’s also a member of the executive council of the United Church of Christ, the first transgender woman to hold such a high title in that denomination."

Outgoing OutFront Minnesota executive director, Ann DeGroot was also honored at Creating Change and dubbed a "hero" by NGLTF leader Matt Foreman:

On her last day as executive director of OutFront Minnesota, Ann Degroot was singled out by National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman as a "hero."

During Foreman's plenary address at the NGLTF Creating Change Conference in Detroit, he singled Degroot and her work out as part of the things the LBGT community had to celebrate. Foreman's speech was on the state of the LBGT movement.

"When the forces of intolerance tried to get an anti-gay marriage law through the state legislature, it was you who rallied and defeated it before it got off the ground," Foreman said. "You are a hero. There is no way to adequately thank you."

Degroot helped found OutFront 21 years ago, and has been running the group since. She announce Jan. 24 she was stepping down due to personal reasons.