Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressed the State of Michigan after a plan to kidnap her and other Michigan government officials was thwarted by state and federal law enforcement agencies. She started by saying thank you to law enforcement and FBI agents who participated in stopping this [...]
BY BTL STAFF Lansing - Lansing resident Emily Dievendorf announced April 21 that she will be running for an At-Large seat on the Lansing City Council. Dievendorf is the former Executive Director of Equality Michigan, [...]
BY BTL STAFF Photo Credit: Michigan Womyn's Music Festival Website HART - Two weeks after national LGBT rights organizations pulled their names from a petition calling for a ban on the Michigan Womyn's Music [...]
In December, protestors gathered at the state capitol in Lansing to stop a MiRFRA bill being considered during the lame duck session. LANSING - Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge,, chair of the Michigan Senate [...]
Even by phone, Reba McEntire makes you feel right at home. "Thanks for the visit; I've enjoyed visitin' with you!" the singer drawls, wrapping up our conversation as if I'd just stopped by for buttered [...]
Even by phone, Reba McEntire makes you feel right at home. "Thanks for the visit; I've enjoyed visitin' with you!" the singer drawls, wrapping up our conversation as if I'd just stopped by for buttered [...]
Brian Klawiter, the Grandville business owner at the center of a firestorm of controversy because of his Facebook post that he would deny service to openly gay people, has not been a legally licensed mechanic [...]
BY BTL STAFF On April 17, students from around the world will remain silent for all or part of the school day to bring attention to the name-calling, discrimination, bullying and harassment experienced by LGBT [...]
The mechanic in Grandville, Michigan who caused a national uproar over his post on Facebook saying he would refuse to provide service to openly gay people, or if he did provide such service, would half-ass [...]
Political Hors D'oeuvres Well, this is special. From the community that gave us the delightful ignorance of Dave Agema, the former state representative and current GOP national committeeman from Michigan, now we have a mechanic [...]
By BTL Staff DETROIT -- Just in time for Pride, the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce will host a Pride Night at an upcoming Tigers game in June. Two days after it was announced, [...]
Equality Michigan is a mess. There. We said it. This is not a new state of affairs for the agency, which has struggled to find its footing since before the 2010 merger between the state's [...]
By Yoruba Richen When I began documenting the same-sex marriage quest in Maryland which ultimately became the award-winning film, "The New Black," I was intrigued by the many nuances explored and positions justified when people [...]
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith In November 2011, I found myself making a whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C. to be part of a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, for [...]
Ted Cruz Before I begin this week's column I'd like to first offer an apology. You see, I have a bad habit of referring to anti-gay politicians and talking heads using terms like "ass," "asshole," [...]
You can't judge a gay book by its cover. Its author. Or, its nom de plume. Case in point: Groundbreaking 1951 sociological expose, "The Homosexual in America." Gay name: Donald Webster Cory. Real name: Edward [...]
Pope Francis. DETROIT -- Two years ago, Pope Francis called for a two-year consultation on the family. As part of that consultation, an extraordinary Synod of Bishops met last October and an ordinary Synod [...]
?Article 70997 For the fifth time in less than a decade, Equality Michigan is without an executive director. Last week, Emily Dievendorf left the organization. She has led the agency since the departure of Denise [...]
BY AJ TRAGER Dani Woods, the LGBT liaison for the Detroit Police Department. Photo: AJ Trager DETROIT - Historically, the LGBT community has had a long and sometimes very violent track record with law [...]
BY AJ TRAGER DETROIT -- In a sold out Spring Bash fundraising event on April 11, Affirmations presented their new "Prince Charming" and executive director, Darrious Hilmon, to the local LGBT community. Last year was [...]
BY AJ TRAGER ANN ARBOR - A University of Michigan professor has begun the editing phase of his full length feature film. The movie, filmed, directed, written and produced all in metro Detroit, tells a [...]
Pink fingernails, animated drag queens, a seven piece funk band performing in a field of kale and couples in love all converge in Chris Good's latest music video project. Featured in the video, the song [...]
BY BTL STAFF LANSING - In preparation for the U.S. Supreme Court decision this June on same-sex marriage, clergy in Michigan will gather in East Lansing April 27, the day before the case is heard [...]
By Lisa Keen ? The 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up to be a particularly exciting and meaningful one for LGBT people. Here are just a few reasons why: The campaign manager for Democrat Hillary [...]
BY BTL STAFF WASHINGTON D.C. -- President Obama's Executive Order, signed July 21, 2014, on LGBT Workplace Discrimination went into effect April 8. The executive order prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating on the [...]
BY BTL STAFF WASHINGTON D.C. -- A new poll conducted by Reuters between April 6 and 8 has found that 52 percent of the American population supports allowing same-sex couples to marry, a complete wash [...]
BY BTL STAFF LOS ANGELES -- Public support for same-sex marriage has increased in all 50 states since 2004, especially in states that have legalized same-sex marriage, according to a report released April 14 by [...]
True, moms don't mind jewelry or other trinkets on Mother's Day - but that's what husbands are for. All mom wants from you, her little angel, is the gift of quality time. Grant her wish [...]
EAST LANSING -- ÒHair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical,Ó a Tony-, Drama Desk- and Grammy Award-winning sensation, runs April 17-26 at Pasant Theatre at LansingÕs Wharton Center. The iconic and groundbreaking production features chart-topping hits [...]
By Dan Woog Jim Buzinski at his alma mater, Penn State. The words ÒNCAAÓ and Òmoral high groundÓ seldom share the same sentence. Yet that lofty peak is exactly where college sportÕs most influential [...]
Across 1 Cole PorterÕs ÒWell, Did You ___Ó 5 Word with top, for Mauresmo 9 Name on a bomber 14 Corleone head 15 Loaf of GomerÕs bread 16 Pink fruit 17 Birthright seller 18 Skye [...]
For the fifth time in less than a decade, Equality Michigan is without an executive director. Last week, Emily Dievendorf left the organization. She has led the agency since the departure of Denise Brogan-Kator in [...]
By Lisa Keen Keen News Service The 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up to be a particularly exciting and meaningful one for LGBT people. Here are just a few reasons why: The campaign manager for [...]
By Lisa Keen The 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up to be a particularly exciting and meaningful one for LGBT people. Here are just a few reasons why: The campaign manager for Democrat Hillary Clinton, [...]
Country music hasn't been fair to its underappreciated female populace, especially lately, as dudes increasingly dominate airplay with their beer-guzzling, truck-revving, bro-y ways. And even if Kacey Musgraves doesn't change that - and let's hope [...]
Across 1 Lorca's stick 5 Bandleader Shaw 10 Like a stereotypical wrist 14 Wife of Buck's Wang 15 Quick raid 16 Canal of New York ferries 17 With 34-Across, "a sort-of survival guide" by Leighton-Dore [...]
ROYAL OAK - Set to a thrilling pop-rock score, Pulitzer Prize-winning "Next to Normal" offers an intimate portrait of a family dealing with bipolar disorder that is at once devastating, honest, heartbreaking - and unexpectedly [...]
Political Hors D'oeuvres State Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, and president of the American Family Association of Michigan, has issued a formal apology to residents of his district for an "agenda alert" he issued two weeks [...]
My how times can change. A year ago, Kyle Bristow and Jason Van Dyke, two white nationalists, filed an amicus brief in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals demanding the court uphold Michigan's ban [...]
BY BTL STAFF FERNDALE -- Two full-time positions have opened up at Affirmations in Ferndale. The LGBT community center is looking to fill two full-time positions for Facilities Associate and Director of Development. Applicants interested [...]
BY BTL STAFF ANN ARBOR -- Arguments for Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee same-sex marriage cases will be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28 and the court is scheduled to weigh in [...]
BY AJ TRAGER BTL Photo: AJ Trager OAK PARK -- Bay Windsor Contreras was just 6 days old when she experienced her first instance of discrimination. While she may not remember it, her mothers [...]
BY AJ TRAGER Kate Wade and Eileen Brandies, one of the 323 couples married on March 22, 2014, hiking near Lake Louise in Canada. ANN ARBOR -- "It was the first time of being [...]
The city of Dearborn is being sued by a Detroit woman who alleges the city violated her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act during a traffic stop in August of 2012. Shalandra Jones is [...]
BY AJ TRAGER Theodore Washington II and James Lawson outside their home in west Detroit, posing in front of a heart they created from natural debris found around their home. BTL Photo: AJ Trager [...]
"All God's Children Work Group" will host a indoor, interfaith prayer vigil the night before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on same-sex marriage. The organization's chair, Elyse Kitrakis, states, "As you may [...]
