Scottsdale transgender advocate remembered

December 16th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under

by Lynh Bui – The Arizona Republic

The Scottsdale Human Relations commissioner who began the job as Ken Culver and reappointed later as Michele de LaFreniere died recently.

Although de LaFreniere is most known for her activism in the transgender community, those who remembered her said she advocated equality for all groups.

While serving on the Human Relations Commission, de LaFreniere was part of an effort that pushed the Scottsdale City Council to extend equal-employment protection to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.

However, she might be most remembered for her role in igniting a national media storm a few years ago in Scottsdale, where she and other transgender patrons were banned from a popular downtown nightclub.

de LaFreniere died in late October after battling cancer. Services for her have not been scheduled, but are expected to take place sometime after Christmas.

Don Logan was Scottsdale’s director of diversity and dialogue at the time de LaFreniere served on the Human Relations Commission. Logan said she was committed to diversity for everyone.

“It was the transgender community issue that got her the most attention, but she was an active supporter in everything the commission did,” said Logan, who is now the diversity administrator in Glendale. “She was very involved in events promoting unity in the community like Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations and Martin Luther King, Jr. events.”

As Culver, de LaFreniere owned a bike shop in Scottsdale and was known as

Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic Michele de LaFreniere, the Scottsdale Human Relations commissioner whose life journey began as a man and ended as a woman, died recently.

“Doc.” It wasn’t until 2004 that Culver officially transitioned to living outwardly as a woman.

She was most recognized for her role in converting Anderson’s Fifth Estate into Forbidden Night Club, one of the few gay nightclubs in Scottsdale.

In 2006, club owner Tom Anderson kicked out de LaFreniere and other transgender patrons from his bar after receiving complaints that some transgender customers were using the women’s restroom.

The ban pushed de LaFreniere to file a discrimination complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. After almost a year of arguments and high-profile attention, the issue was resolved after Anderson converted one of the restrooms in his club into a unisex facility. He eventually reopened Anderson’s Fifth Estate as Forbidden to cater to gay, lesbian and transgender patrons.

The controversy was painted in the media as a bitter battle between an intolerant club owner and the transgender community. However, Anderson said that is not how it went and he was not “a poster boy for the right wing.”

While they disagreed, Anderson said he and de LaFreniere were friends before the ban and remained so after the issue was settled. Just this year, he hosted a birthday party and fundraiser for her at his club.

Anderson’s wife was with de LaFreniere two hours before she died in hospice, and Anderson himself was with her the day before.

“The transgender community lost a spokesperson and a figurehead,” Anderson said. “My wife and I lost a very good friend.”

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