About the Founder
Frank Vaca is a mid-Michigan LGBTQ+ activist, community organizer, and the founder of the Lansing Queer Almanac. Originally from Potterville, Frank has spent years building and sustaining queer community infrastructure across the Greater Lansing area — from mentoring student leaders at Lansing Community College to helping document the region's LGBTQ+ history.
The Lansing Queer Almanac grew out of a simple conviction: that Greater Lansing's queer history deserves to be uncovered, preserved, and shared — not left in boxes or lost to time. Frank started the project as a grassroots zine and has built it into a growing community archive.
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As featured in
"Between Ourselves: Frank Vaca"Pride Source / Between The Lines — by Jessica Carreras, April 15, 2010
A profile of Frank as a 27-year-old mid-Michigan LGBTQ+ advocate, covering his work with the LCC Gay-Straight Alliance, his philosophy of community engagement, and his involvement across Lansing's queer organizations.
Founding press release
New Community Group Forming to Preserve Greater Lansing LGBTQ+ HistoryLansing Queer Almanac — For Immediate Release
The original press release announcing the formation of the Lansing Queer Almanac — calling for volunteers with a wide range of skills to help document and preserve Greater Lansing's LGBTQ+ history.
Featured Involvement
For a number of years, Frank helped organize and support the Lansing Community College Gay-Straight Alliance's annual drag show — one of the most visible and joyful expressions of queer community on the LCC campus. The drag show brought students, performers, and community members together and gave the GSA a high-profile event to anchor each year's programming.
Frank served as a mentor and stand-in E-board member for the GSA, helping sustain the organization across semesters. Because the group required two enrolled LCC students to remain active each semester — all in volunteer positions, with no pay — continuity was a constant challenge. Frank helped bridge those gaps, recruit student leaders, and keep the organization running.
"I like to help elect those who I think have a spark for leadership," Frank told Between The Lines in 2010. "This year, again I am blown away by the actions and dedication of those picking up the cause."
"I am doing this out of kindness of my own heart. I admit at times it is good to have power, but I think of it as watering and caring for a precious flower."
Source: Pride Source / Between The Lines, April 15, 2010 (interview by Jessica Carreras); also covered in The Lookout, Lansing Community College's student newspaper.
Community Involvement
Served as mentor and stand-in E-board member — helping elect student leaders, supporting the GSA drag show, and keeping the organization active each semester. E-board positions included secretary, treasurer, membership, vice president, and president. "I like to help elect those who I think have a spark for leadership." The group required two LCC students to activate it each semester; Frank helped bridge those gaps as a volunteer.
"I love the Lansing Area AIDS Network" — a consistent source of support and engagement for one of the region's most important HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Active supporter of LAHR, one of Michigan's oldest LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations, which has advocated for equality in Lansing since the 1970s.
Participated in panels on diversity in the workplace, bringing LGBTQ+ perspectives to professional and educational settings across mid-Michigan.
Regular attendee and volunteer at Michigan Pride, including helping with event take-down — the unglamorous but essential work that keeps community celebrations running.
A longtime supporter of the Greater Lansing Gay Men's Chorus. As Frank put it: "I can't sing, but will buy something cheap from the Greater Lansing Gay Men's Chorus."
In His Own Words
“I think it is important to stay up with the causes and crises of your community because in some small way, we are all connected. I do believe in the philosophy that what happens to them will eventually happen to you.”
“People have the power to create change.”
“I try to live openly and respectfully.”
Frank's approach to community work has always been grounded in a simple idea: that engagement doesn't have to be large to matter. "Engaging your community can be small to large depending on your free time and willingness to make a difference," he told Between The Lines in 2010.
He has described staying informed as a kind of responsibility — reading LGBTQ+ news, following community events, and surrounding himself with the stories and struggles of the broader queer world. "I surround myself in this gay bubble where I want to know what's going on in the community."
That same philosophy drives the Lansing Queer Almanac: the belief that local history matters, that community members are the keepers of their own stories, and that preserving those stories is itself a form of activism.
Quotes and biographical details sourced from: "Between Ourselves: Frank Vaca," Pride Source / Between The Lines, April 15, 2010, by Jessica Carreras. Additional coverage in The Lookout, Lansing Community College's student newspaper.
The Lansing Queer Almanac is a community project. If you have a story, a photograph, a document, or a memory — we want to hear from you.