http://www.hopeandhelpcenter.org/
OTHER REFRENCES~ http://stlgayhistory.livejournal.com/29491.html
http://thevitalvoice.com/node/3231
http://spirithelpcenter.blogspot.com/2009/01/lisa-wagman-mccgsl-cornerstones.html
http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/guides/whm0542.htm
Lisa Wagaman, Longtime St. Louis GLBT Community Activist and Pride St. Louis Board Member Dies At 65
By Colin Murphy - Senior Writer - Posted on April 16th, 2009
Blog Category: News
BY: COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER
The Vital VOICE has learned of the death of longtime St. Louis GLBT activist and Pride St. Louis Board Member, Lisa Wagaman. She was 65.
"It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that our dear sister Lisa Wagaman has died of natural causes," announced Danny Gladden, Communications and Volunteer Ministries Director for Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis in an email to the LGBTA ListServe. "Lisa was very active both in our greater community and in the MCC congregation for over 35 years."
According to Gladden, arrangements are pending while the St. Louis Medical Examiner tries to locate next of kin for Wagaman.
"As Lisa's family of choice, we remember the life of a wonderful person who has given so much to the LGBTQA community," Gladden concluded.
In additon to a grateful GLBT community, Wagaman leaves behind her beloved cats who for just recently she was trying to find a new home before moving into senior housing.
Lisa Wagaman was born May 2, 1943 in New Jersey. She grew up in the Garden State, then moved to several large cities including Toledo and Indianapolis before settling in St. Louis in 1972.
Wagaman's activism in the St. Louis GLBT community began in 1974 with her activities in the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis. In addition to her work with MCC, she had been a member of Pride St. Louis since it's inception in 1979, serving both as member in good standing and Board Member. She was most recently the Director of Public Safety.
Over the years, Wagaman was associated with an impressive list of organizations including the former Metropolitan Life Service Center, an early GLBT organization which started the Gay and Lesbian Hotiline; as a delagate to the Regional Planning Committee for the 1987 March on Washington; and the St. Louis and Missouri chapters of NOW.
Wagaman, a transwoman, was equally active around transgender issues and organizations over the years.
Known online as MO DYKE, Wagaman also held the distinction of being Missouri's only officially recognized "Dyke" given her uniqe vanity plate which was granted to her after a brief fight with the state.
In 1992, a large collection of Wagaman's papers were donated to the St. Louis GLBT Archives housed at UMSL.
Funeral or memorial arrangements for Wagaman will be reported as they are announced.
In October 2002, in honor of Gay and Lesbian History Month, this reporter profiled Wagaman in the Vital VOICE as part of a story around St. Louis GLBT leaders recalling the early days of activism in the Gateway City. Below is a portion of that story:
GAY HISTORY MONTH
Movers and Shakers Recall St. Louis' GLBT Lore
BY COLIN MURPHY - SENIOR WRITER
Not all that long ago, most of Gay history was passed from one person to another orally. We were too afraid to put the proverbial pen to paper and write it down for fear of being found out. In honor of Gay History Month this October, I spoke with three community activists who together have a combined 80-years in the trenches for the advancement and betterment of our community. Individually, and in their own unique way, they tell a tale of where we have been, where we are and most importantly, where we are going.
LISA WAGAMAN
Born and raised in New Jersy, Lisa Wagaman moved to St. Louis as an adult in 1972 when the St. Louis GLBT community as we know it was in its infancy. She had previously lived in several large cities such as Toledo and Indianapolis, but has called the Gateway City home ever since.
Wagaman is a shy, if not reluctant activist and balks when you suggest that she's been "in the trenches." This, dispite having been active in the St. Louis GLBT community since her arrival. Wagaman has been an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis (MCC) since its founding in 1974. She was also involved with the former Metropolitan Life Service Center (MLSC), a GLBT community organization that started the Gay and Lesbian Hotline in the mid 1970s.
Wagaman served on the Hotline for many years, assisted with training of Hotline volunteers , and served on the MLSC Board of Directors. She also spoke to several college classes on behalf of the organization, in addition to being interviewed on TV and radio talk shows on the subject of GLBT rights. (The hotline was later taken over by The Gay Academic Union, a national organization, and most recently by Challange Metro.)
"The MLSC was the first gay and lesbian community center, if you will, and the brainchild of the late Gailen Moone," said Wagaman. "His thoughts were that there were many community members who were gay but extremely closeted [and needed a place to go.] It was set up at the MCC on Watermen, then moved to McPherson and Euclid; then to a house that was burned but remodeled."
Wagaman has seen many changes come to the St. Louis GLBT community since her arrival three years after Stonewall.
"Today it is amazingly different," Wagaman explained. "MCC was the first organization in the state to own property. We had been renting space from a Presbyterian Church on Olive and then moved to the property on Waterman. The community was basically centered around the bars; which to some degree, it still is. But now, we are far more politically engaged."
Wagaman recalls when the St. Louis GLBT community started its polital engagement when Rick Garcia from the Metro East began mobilizing against Anita Bryant speaking in Kansas City as part of her 1977, "Save the Children" anti-gay campaign. She went on to explain that the political engagement grew from there, and when the AIDS crisis hit, it pushed if further.
In 1979 Wagaman became involved with the Magnolia Committee, which helped to plan the first celebration of Gay and Lesbian Pride in St. Louis at the Washington University campus in 1980. This organization later became what is known as Pride St. Louis of which she is a member in good standing and recently was elected Secretery.
Wagaman still remembers that first Pride celebration, which was called "Lesbians, Gays and Friends Walk for Charity" very well. She described a young woman who had dressed like a clown to disguise herself and the Pride Committee passing out masks to the marchers so they could hide their identity from the media.
"It's been an interesting and rewarding experience seeing the changes I've seen over the years," Wagaman stated. "Now people think nothing of marching in Pride. [And that is due to] the basic recognition of gays as something other than an abnormality or a disease."
"I also think a lot of young people are engaged," Wagaman continued. "There are exceptions to the rule; but look at the organizations here in the schools. We couldn't have done that back in the 1970s and 1980s."
Wagaman has served as an area representative to several conferences of the International Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinatiors and been an active member of the Metro St. Louis Chapter of the National Organization of Women.
Wagaman's "claim to fame" is that she is the only "officially recognized" Dyke in the state of Missouri by virtue of her unique license plates, "DYKE" which were given to her after a brief fight with the state.
Your can email Colin Murphy at colin_murphy@sbcglobal.net
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