Funeral arrangements announced for LGBTQ activist Michael Gamilla

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Service arrangements have been announced for local LGBTQ activist Michael Gamilla, who died on March 9 after a battle with leukemia.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 25th. It will begin with a mass at St. Mary’s Church at 10 a.m. followed by a reception at the Jewish Community Center at noon. Attendees are asked to wear bright and colorful clothing.

“That’s how Michael would show up and want to be celebrated. The world was his fashion runway after all,” said a post about the service.

Gamilla worked as a systems analyst and computer programmer but also had an artistic side, said his bio for Trillium Health. He served as the program director for ImageOut, Rochester’s film festival for celebrating the LBGTQ community for 19 years. He also introduced the Flower City Flicks Competition, a program to help filmmakers to highlight the voices of LBGTQ people.

Gamilla guided the ImageOut film festival through the pandemic, holding a virtual festival in 2020 and introducing the new ImageOut First Cut Spring Edition which is entering its third year.

The Little Theatre honored Gamilla in 2011 with the Friend of Film Award for his contributions to local cinema. Gamilla was also selected to judge LBGTQ Film festivals internationally including in Toronto, Tel Aviv, Berlin, and Cardiff. He also judged Rochester’s 24-hour Movie Challenge.

The festival’s spring edition will run from April 27 to May 2 and the fall films will run from Oct. 5 to Oct. 15. You can make a donation to ImageOut in memory of Gamilla here.

Gamilla spoke to News10NBC about his role as the Grand Marshal of Rochester’s Pride Parade in 2022.