Kalamazoo plays host to struggle over gay, transgender rights

MichiganMessenger.com – By David Alire Garcia

Kalamazoo – With the constant din of volunteers talking and phones ringing behind him, City Commissioner David Anderson sat on a metal folding chair at campaign headquarters and explained his reluctant entry into the battle over a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance in this southwest Michigan city.

“I didn’t run to work on this issue,” he said, referring to Ordinance 1856, which he helped write. “Quite frankly, this was not on my radar.” He added that the local advocacy group Kalamazoo Aliance for Equality did the initial pushing.