GN A V S I BY KR
Photo/Kris Vagner
e c a l p A s u r fo ER
“ I
saw one of the planes hit the building,” said Meredith Tanzer. It was September 11, the day terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. She was in New York on a business trip. She flew home to San Francisco, where she was a marketing director for a dot-com, and found that, suddenly, living in a big city felt a little more dangerous than it had before. The business flights on her calendar suddenly seemed a little more risky. It was one of those moments in life when a hard reboot seemed like the best thing to do. In 2002, she quit her job and moved to Reno. She had a couple of other reasons for a change of pace as well. “I had been working crazy hours,” she said. “I didn’t have time to give back. I could send organizations a check, but that’s not the same.” To Tanzer, a petite 45-year-old with purplestreaked hair, giving back was a big deal. She’d been a volunteer for over a dozen years, and the experience of helping others had opened doors she’d never imagined. She’d grown up in Marin County, moved to San Francisco “at 19 or so,” with a boyfriend, and found the industriousness of the city’s culture thrilling. “Every other person you talked to was doing something to impact the world,” she said with the excitement of that discovery still fresh in her voice a quarter century later. Tanzer dived into city life headfirst. She worked with a film company and a clothing company. She came out as a lesbian and wrote for edgy magazines such as On Our Backs and CUIR Underground. She worked on art shows and volunteered at schools. “By volunteering you get to meet really cool other people,” she said. “I got to run an event for Comedy Central when I was 23 at The Warfield. I was a lesbian activist. I was a fat activist. People I worked with are tremendous leaders now, that I got to learn from. I learned how to get around really difficult obstacles.” One obstacle she’s overcome lately has been persevering through a seven-year-long effort to open a new LGBT center in Reno. Tanzer is vice president of the board of Build
B, left, is one of many teens to whom Meredith Tanzer has lent advice, support, and resources over the years.
Seven years in the making, a new LGBT community center just opened. The people behind the scenes explain why Reno needed one. “ A place for us” continued on page 14
OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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JUNE 2, 2016
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RN&R
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13
