ANN ARBOR – A suggestion from the late activist Jim Toy has led to the creation of a welcoming dinner dance for Tree Town’s LGBTQ+ community at the Y.
On Saturday, Sept. 10, join Ann Arbor YMCA for its free, intergenerational LGBTQ+ Family & Friends Dinner Dance between 5-8 p.m.
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“The dinner dance is being offered in hopes of providing a welcoming space with protection from discrimination, as well as creating an event for people to meet and socialize with like-minded peers,” YMCA officials wrote in a release.
The family-friendly event will have free food, crafts, a photo booth and entertainment from DJ Kevin Massey Sr.
“The first time we hosted this intergenerational dance back in 2019, it was because of a suggestion from the late Jim Toy,” said Ann Arbor YMCA President and CEO Toni Kayumi.
“He said many people from his generation weren’t able to attend a high school dance with the date they wanted to go with, and that LGBTQ+ elders might enjoy dancing in the Y’s gym, as much as teenagers would. Our shared vision was to create an event where people of all ages could come together to celebrate Pride with their loved ones.”
Toy, who died at age 91 in January 2022, was a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ rights across the United States. In addition to his impact on non-discrimination policies, Ann Arbor’s Jim Toy Community Center and the Jim Toy Library at the University of Michigan are named in his honor. The City of Ann Arbor proclaimed April 29 as Jim Toy Day in 2013.
The free LGBTQ+ Family & Friends Dinner Dance will be held in the YMCA gymnasium at 400 W. Washington St.
Attendees do not need to be Y members in order to participate. RSVP online here.