GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The Brown County United Way's LGBTQ+ Equity Challenge begins today, March 14th, and runs through May 9th. In a time where bills like Florida's "Don't Say Gay" are popping up, the United Way wants to enforce the importance of being an ally. No matter who you are, you can become an ally.
"We have seen people sign up from police departments, from different churches, educators, people who work with Child Protective Services," said Justis Tenpenney, the Brown County United Way's Communication and Engagement Manager.
The Challenge is a nine week course that provides resources in the form of podcasts, articles and interviews. Topics range from history, violence, current events, and the basic definitions and terms.
The very first paragraph of our week is 'What is LGBTQ+?'"said Tenepenney. "Then we talk about like, 'can I say queer?', because the terminology in the LGBTQ+ community has really shifted over the last 10 to 15 years."
Tenpenney said he hoped for maybe 100 sign-ups, but that shattered expectations in one day. Right now, they have 750 participants.
"It's important for us to have allies and to understand that we have people who are with us," said Tenpenney. "And I think this challenge really, kind of, brings a lot of these things to the light and shows that, like, we are here, we are in the community."
It's teaching that Pride is more than just the month of June.
"I think that anybody can find value in this challenge, whether or not they have knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community," said Tenpenney.
You can sign-up anytime between March 14th and May 9th. The material from the previous weeks will be included.
