LGBTQ

As a small-town teenager unsure of her sexuality, Stacy Lentz could have never imagined a statewide LGBTQ festival. Now she'll feature in Kansas' first.

“I think that she really wasn’t allowed to be herself for a long time in a small-town setting. “It shows progress is alive and well in Kansas,” Lentz said. “These people were just like me, and it was just such a cool experience to finally find that community and safe space, to be around others like us, and allies.” For me, it was about giving back to the community.” In 2006, when the Stonewall Inn went up for sale, Lentz knew she had an opportunity to act to save a landmark site in gay civil rights history. For Paige Taylor and Megan Thornbrugh, sorority sisters of Lentz’ from K-State, it’s an honor to see her return as an LGBTQ leader. “Years later, they’re very proud of what I’ve done and how I’ve kept the fight up for LGBTQ civil rights and making a difference in places where it’s still stigmatized and people didn’t feel safe being out and open.” Thanks to Kelly and Lentz’ efforts, the bar ultimately earned its place on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. and then New York, but in places like Humboldt and like where I grew up, because I’m sure there are plenty of LGBTQ people in Kansas, and they deserve to be affirmed and safe.” Those kinds of words — gay, lesbian, LGBTQ — just weren’t in the community’s terminology, and Lentz wasn’t really even sure what “being gay” meant. [Brandon Teena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Teena), a trans man who was raped and murdered in her mother’s hometown of Humboldt, Nebraska, in 1993. She loved to hang out with the guys, even if she didn’t want to date them.