Cassie Tokach/Winonan

Winona State University currently embraces the equality of all individuals, but now the Winona LGBT Resource Center and Full Spectrum want to reach out to the community for the same support.

The groups hosted a Silent Rally for Equality for National Coming Out Week last Friday, Oct. 11, 2013.

Students and community members gathered at Windom Park, on the corner of Huff and Broadway, to promote the equality of the LGBT* community.

Emilee Burkhalter, senior at Winona State, is one of the founding members of the LGBT Resource Center in Winona.

Burkhalter said, “Winona needs a place to support these individuals, and a center that can be used not only as resource, but also as a place of education.”

After approaching the La Crosse 7 Sisters LGBT Resource Center and Cindy Killion, Winona State mass communication professor, Burkhalter received approval to expand into the Winona area.

Burkhalter said, “These events are being held to bring together Winona and provide the LGBT* community with support.”

While the rally marked the end of National Coming Out Week, Coffee for Queers will be a biweekly event also promoting the growth of the LGBT Resource Center.

“We want community members to be apart of the creation of this center. We need to know what the LGBT* individuals in the community need,” Burkhalter said.

Though students are more than encouraged to be a part of this movement, Burkhalter is looking for teachers, mentors and other members of the community to step forward and become activists for this cause.

Coffee for Queers will be used as a brainstorming session for the LGBT Resource Center and will alternate between Acoustic Cafe and the Women’s Resource Center both located on Lafayette Street in Winona.

Burkhalter said she hopes that the LGBT Resource Center becomes a useful place for all kinds of individuals and that it will expand within the next few years.

Contact Cassie at [email protected]