<—PREVIOUS NEXT —>
LINDA ELLIS
It’s no surprise Linda Ellis likes to build things and remodel in her spare time. She went from building up YouthPride as its first executive director, and is now putting those same skills to use at the helm of the Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative.
How would you define your role in Atlanta’s LGBT community?
I’ve been leading an LGBT organization for 15 years now – as the first Director of YouthPride, and now here at the Health Initiative. Just because of my tenure, I see my most important role in our community to be one of constancy and support. It’s one that I enjoy, and honestly, it’s not all that different from my role as a mother to our two kids. I believe that it is my job to help make sure that we’ve got what we need to take care of ourselves – individually and collectively – and to live good lives. Of late, I’m most proud of the Rush Center, which has the capacity to be a great home for all LGBT organizations, and the Health Initiative’s Health Fund, through which we’re connecting uninsured LGBT folks with affordable, supportive healthcare.
What do you forecast for Atlanta’s LGBT community in the next 5 to 10 years?
We’ll continue to move toward fuller participation in the mainstream community – and that will impact our work as organizations. At the Health Initiative, we’re already working to build stronger partnerships with mainstream service providers, so that if you call for a referral, we can hopefully connect with someone who is not only LGBT friendly, but who’s also working in your neighborhood.
We learn from all our experiences, both good and bad. Tell us about a negative life experience you’ve had that you learned a valuable lesson from.
That’s a hard one. Coming out to my parents was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I was raised conservative Southern Baptist, and there was nothing in my parents’ world to help them embrace a lesbian daughter. But they also raised me to have a strong commitment to and reliance on family. We stuck it out (from both sides) and it was worth it. I can’t imagine my life without that circle around me.
How has being LGBT shaped your outlook on life?
I don’t know anything else, so it’s somewhat hard to separate my identity as a lesbian from the whole of me. I like being me – and I love the people that have been brought into my life along the way. That’s not to say that it’s always been an easy road. I believe that I carry with me both a greater distrust for those who are presumptively given the power in our society, and a corresponding affinity for those who find themselves at the edges of a community.
Tell us a little more about yourself. What are your hobbies? What are your goals?
I love to build things – I’ve largely remodeled and built an addition on our old farm house. One of my dreams is to design and build a house from the ground up. I think that if I had to do it again, I’d be an architect/builder. I’m still trying to figure out how to do that and keep my day job!
If you were stranded on a desert island, what’s the one book you would want with you?
I can’t answer this one without some revision (I’d never answer it, otherwise). If I were stranded on a desert island for the upcoming weekend, I’d take the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. My 12 year old really wants me to read them…
