by Lucy Hough
Tim Retzloff, a Lansing resident and Yale Ph.D. student, is researching LGBT history in Detroit and is looking for people to interview to further his knowledge of what LGBT life was like between 1945 and 1985.
"There are these really crucial gaps that in order to tell the full story, I need to find people who are willing to share their memories," Retzloff said.
Retzloff has been doing extensive amounts of archival research and interviewing many people already, but there are some groups of people that he feels he's missing. Specifically, he is interested in speaking to more lesbian, bisexual and transgender women who lived in the area during that time period. Retzloff said that he's been able to reach many men in his research, which has provided a lot of information, but he would like to speak to more women to learn more about an inherent gap between gay men and women that's been around for a while.
"There's a vein of separatism in Detroit … It's one of the divides that has been bridged in important ways, but in other ways it still resonates," Retzloff said. "I think that's an important community I need to reach."
He's also looking for people who were a part of social organizations during the time. Specifically, he hopes to talk to members of a black, gay social group that existed in the '70s called Frontrunner that isn't very well known; it appeared in one article in a local LGBT magazine, the Metro Gay News, but is otherwise a mystery. He's also hoping to talk to members of a former group called Sappho Sisters Rising and of a suburban women's group that met around the early '80s. Also, at the time, cruising and socializing in malls was very popular, and Retzloff hopes to talk to people who were aware or involved in that in some way.
Retzloff has been studying LGBT history in Detroit for some time as a way to better "understand himself and his community." Working toward his dissertation has allowed him time to really focus on a history that he feels hasn't been told, though many other regions have expressed such history specific to that area. For his research, he has scoured many archives including those at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.
"I'm excited about seeing it through to completion," he said of his current project. "It's really amazing that my life has afforded me the opportunity to work in a place where I can research full time."
Those who feel that they offer valuable insight for Retzloff's dissertation should send their information to P.O. Box 19054, Lansing, Mich. 48901. Or, they can e-mail him at [email protected].
