Coming Back Full Circle

Whether through financial contributions or donating the space of their new community theater, Michael Morse and Randy Lange have given the Las Vegas LGBT community more than it ever could have bargained for.They host a yearly talent show for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (on top of donating countless dollars and a new sign to the LGBT resource hub). They host monthly NeonFest mini screenings, as well as putting on community theater productions. And they have donated much-needed funds to the St.Therese Center.

The St. Therese Center, in particular, has been an entity the couple has supported for years. The non-profit HIV / AIDS support organization was instrumental in helping Lange and Morse-who have been HIV-positive for 15- and 23 years, respectively-since they moved to town. “We probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them,” Lange says. “I remember getting clothes from St. Therese Center, Father Joseph has always been there for us,” Morse adds.

Patronizing gay businesses is also something the pair feels strongly about. “Because people don’t want to deal with the traffic and the parking, businesses are suffering and they’re closing. We’ve lost that many more businesses because of that. People need to be made aware of that,” Morse says. “It’s all about giving back and making sure that people are OK-that they’re surviving.”
Giving back to the community has always been important to Morse and Lange, who have been together for six years. Lange, who has volunteered since he was 15, gave up his time and energy whenever possible. “I don’t have the time, but have a little bit of money now that I can give back,” Lange says. “Everything you give out comes back full circle. The community is what made us. If we don’t give back, we don’t get,” Morse adds.

One thing the couple gets frustrated about is the people in the community that take and don’t give anything back. “We see it in the community all the time,” Lange says. Morse feels that the lack of community involvement can be chalked up to Las Vegas being a very repressed society. “This is a very homophobic environment,” Morse says. “Sin City? Bullshit! Show me the sin. We try our best to provide as much sin a possible, but two men can only do so much {laughs}.”

Lange and Morse would love to see The Center and St Therese Center move into their own buildings and to have their own space. “If anybody’s out there and you’re rich and you’re about to die, those are two organizations to leave your wealth to,” Morse says. “Seriously.”