Longtime LGBTQIA+ community supporter Michael Gamilla died away. Let’s look at the LGBTQ activist’s mortality and its specific causes.
How Did Michael Gamilla Passed Away?
This week marked the passing of Michael Gamilla, the program head of ImageOut for 20 years. After a courageous fight with illness, he passed away. Gamilla has been open and frequently philosophical in his Facebook posts about his health since being diagnosed with leukemia in 2021. He also shares his daily Wordle score there.
Gamilla planned the last two ImageOut events from his hospital bed. Gerry Szymanski, a librarian at the Eastman School of Music, asserted that Gamilla used her connections abroad to provide Rochester with access to important international films. He is well known for promoting the festival all over the globe and for being a vocal member of the LGBTQ+ community.
What Happened To Gamilla?
On March 9, 2023, Gamilla, an LGBTQ campaigner, passed away from cancer. The Little Theatre posted the following message on social media to share the news of Gamilla’s passing.
We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our friend Michael Gamilla, the programming director for ImageOut, a board member, and a vital (and always fashionable) member of the Rochester cinema community. I appreciate the movies, your companionship, and your fabulousness.
Who Was Michael Gamilla ?
Gamilla was born in Manila, Philippines, and moved to the US as an adult with her family. He felt that ImageOut’s mission relied on exposing Rochester audiences to LGBTQ+ experiences all over the world, according to those who knew him.
That, in particular, is Michael’s legacy, according to ImageOut Managing Director Braden Reese: “Bringing us diverse films that tell all of the tales, all of the different LGBTQ+ experiences, and bringing us those foreign films.”
Michael Gamilla Cause Of Death
Leukemia took Michael Gamilla’s life after a valiant two-year fight. He wasn’t even 55. Social media was inundated with condolences following the news of Gamilla’s passing.
He was a significant figure in the LGBTQ community. In “Shoulders to Stand On,” a local documentary in which Gamilla participated, he discussed the importance of the close-knit community that ImageOut serviced.
The Rochester Pride Festival group proposed Gamilla as the Grand Marshall for the Pride parade, but he was unable to attend the July celebration due to illness. On social media, his peers and coworkers have expressed their condolences.
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