In what can be considered a win for LGBTQ+ parents and their children in the state of Michigan, the Michigan Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court’s decision involving a lesbian couple’s custody dispute. [...]
Last Month Michigan Sen. Lana Theis, along with 12 Senate Republicans, introduced Senate Bill 218 that would bar transgender students from being able to participate in school sports in accordance with their gender identity — [...]
After serving as Pride Source Media Group’s Entertainment Editor and the Editor of Q Syndicate, the national LGBTQ+ wire service, Chris Azzopardi has been named the company’s new Editorial Director. The announcement comes as he [...]
Though it's been a year since the Archdiocese of Detroit prohibited priests from offering mass to LGBTQ+ Catholic group Dignity/Detroit, the order hasn't budged. The decision came as a shock last year to Dignity members [...]
Michigan GOP Chair Ron Weiser is facing a big backlash to cruel comments he made last month at a North Oakland Republican Club meeting. The comments, which The Detroit News first published online in a [...]
Transgender Michigan Founder and Executive Director Rachel Crandall-Crocker was having coffee yesterday — an iced coffee with almond milk, to be exact — at her favorite spot, The Dovetail in Warren, when the news suddenly [...]
After Southwest Michigan First’s controversial hiring of former House Speaker Lee Chatfield, followed by his tumultuous tenure and subsequent resignation, it’s difficult to say whether 2021 started with a bang or a thud for LGBTQ+ [...]
University of Michigan Medical School alumnus and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, Dr. Jack Drescher, will speak virtually at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute this April. The Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute provides training and education [...]
It was a fitting farewell. LGBT Detroit honored former Between The Lines publishers Susan Horowitz and Jan Stevenson with the agency’s 2021 Women’s Herstory Month award during a Facebook Live celebration and discussion that took [...]
When Garnet Lewis and her business partners decided to name their gourmet food shop in Douglas Isabel’s Market & Eatery, they had a clear choice in mind. Their namesake was an area school teacher and [...]
Perhaps as a side effect of her time as the Ferndale Pride event chair, Julia Music got used to a regular question: "Will you marry us?" Not qualified to do so, she'd politely decline. But [...]
On March 31, the 11th-annual International Transgender Day of Visibility will be observed. While every year since its inception the event has drawn celebrations around the world, locally, Michiganders can commemorate the day with its [...]
In honor of Women’s History Month 2021, Between The Lines is featuring some of Michigan’s most prominent LGBTQ+ women leaders. Though our state is full of powerful women leaders using their skills, time and effort [...]
On Friday, March 12, as the Affirmations LGBTQ+ Community Center in Ferndale held its twice-weekly ‘Lettuce Help’ food and clothing distribution program, a small group of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters gathered outside the main entrance on the [...]
London Bell and her Bell Global Justice Institute will hold a parallel event at the 65th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The event, a panel discussion, is titled Visible [...]
HAZEL PARK – The Hazel Park City Council tonight introduced Ordinance 01-21, a Human Rights Ordinance that would prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and public services on the basis of race, color, religion, [...]
An incarcerated trans woman has filed a lawsuit alleging the Michigan Department of Corrections failed to keep her safe and, in fact, put her in a position to be harmed by forcing her to bunk [...]
Today, more women than ever are in business leadership roles, but gender-based discrimination is still an ongoing problem. Beyond that, navigating any management position can be difficult, especially if there are few leadership examples from [...]
Diabolique Paris Johnson, 34, of Indianapolis was charged Tuesday, March 2, with first-degree felony murder in the Sept. 5 shooting death of 39-year-old Joshua J. Smelser. Smelser, a videographer who had moved to Detroit only [...]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into its second year, health organizations around Michigan have had to adapt to serve their communities in unique circumstances. At Detroit's Corktown Health Center, which prioritizes LGBTQ+ health care, the [...]
LANSING – For the first time in Michigan’s history, women hold the majority of our top elected leadership positions. To mark International Women’s Day, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana [...]
Online banking is nothing new, but it’s becoming increasingly popular. What is brand-new in the U.S. is a platform that “queers” the concept: It’s called Daylight, and as co-founder Rob Curtis says, ‘We’re building a [...]
Born and raised on the west side of Detroit, Dionté Brown has always loved his hometown. Today, he gives back through his work, and he serves as the program coordinator for LGBT Detroit's Leadership Academy [...]
May 17,1973 – Feb. 19, 2021 He was a singer, performance artist, celebrity stylist, makeup artist, fashion designer and much, much more. The multi-faceted Michiee DeVale died on Feb. 19, 2021. He was 47. DeVale [...]
Physical sciences professor at Ferris State University Thomas Brennan has been fired for tweeting homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic comments. Brennan was under investigation by the university since November when FSU President David Eisler issued a [...]
On Friday, March 5, Jad Abumrad, the host and creator of “Dolly Parton’s America” and “Radiolab,” a public radio program broadcast on nearly 600 stations across the nation and downloaded more than 12 million times [...]
Two hundred faith leaders can't be wrong. In addition to being the campaign's tagline, that's the number of religious representatives that Michigan's LGBTQ+-affirming, faith-based coalition Inclusive Justice has brought together to sign a letter in [...]
The Detroit LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Diversity Council are partnering to present a virtual conference called Colours. The two-day event will take place May 13 and 14 and will focus on the [...]
Last week the owner of the private gay Michigan campsite Camp Boomerang, Bryan Quinn, said on social media that the camp required men to have a penis in order to purchase a membership. Boomerang has [...]
Retired attorney and activist Mark LaChey was reelected to the post of first vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party at the party’s virtual State Spring Convention Saturday, Feb. 20. More than 1,300 delegates voted [...]
The Ruth Ellis Center’s annual Ruth Ellis Day celebration is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 28. Like most events these days, the celebration will be virtual and feature a screening of Yvonne Welbon’s documentary "Living with [...]
In what one hopes is the final chapter on a controversy that’s racked the LGBTQ+ community in Michigan and their allies, as well as Kalamazoo as a whole, former House Speaker Lee Chatfield has abruptly [...]
It isn’t even open yet and already it’s causing controversy. The owners of Camp Boomerang RV Park and Campground in Orleans, which is about 50 miles northwest of Lansing, have announced they will ban trans [...]
We hold these truths to be self-evident: climate change is real and Republicans are terrible. Look no further than Texas, where, as I write this, millions of people are without power. No water, no heat [...]
KALAMAZOO — Equality Michigan Executive Director and Kalamazoo City Commissioner, Erin Knott, made the following statement regarding the announcement of Ex-House Speaker Lee Chatfield's support of Elliott-Larsen amendment. “It’s encouraging to learn Mr. Chatfield intends [...]
In an unexpected move that followed the Feb. 11 hiring of former House Speaker Lee Chatfield as CEO of economic development nonprofit Southwest Michigan First, the organization on Feb. 16 announced a new non-discrimination policy and [...]
On Saturday, Feb. 13, LGBT Detroit presented its second-annual Cold As Hell Winter Pride. A ticketed event highlighting LGBTQ sexual expression in the leather, kink and fetish communities, Cold as Hell was entirely prerecorded. Viewers [...]
Detroiters and architecture buffs alike are well aware of the city's reputation for historical buildings. And while many of the best-known are tied to the auto industry, animal lovers will be pleased to know that [...]
The Bingo Institute of Grooming, where would-be doggie-stylists train and learn the tricks of the trade, is expanding. Originally opened in 2015, the Institute, created by Bingo Pet Salon owner Brian Lane and Director of [...]
For many Americans, 2021 likely feels like a welcome political reset as the nation starts to settle in to the next four years under the Biden/Harris Administration. For the LGBTQ+ community, even in the short [...]
Southwest Michigan First, a Kalamazoo-based economic development organization, has named former House Speaker Lee Chatfield as CEO. According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Chatfield confirmed he would be moving to Kalamazoo. The former representative from Levering, [...]
Aug. 9, 1976 – Feb. 5, 2021 Lorenzo R. Blaylock, former model and exotic dancer, died Feb. 5 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 44. Blaylock grew up on Detroit's East Side but [...]
April 15, 1951 – Feb. 3, 2021 Gregory C. Piazza, author of two books chronicling the history and architecture of Detroit’s Palmer Park neighborhood, succumbed to his longtime battle with Parkinson’s Disease on Wednesday, Feb. [...]
A Detroit music icon beloved by the LGBTQ+ community has died. Mary Wilson, one of the original Supremes and a Motown legend, died suddenly Monday at her home in Henderson, Nevada. She was 76. Wilson [...]
An Outdated Law In a case that shines a light on Michigan’s antiquated surrogate parenting law, a couple in Grand Rapids has been ordered to endure the process of adopting their own biological newborn twins. [...]
Equality Michigan recently elected its new board leadership for 2021, with former State Sen. Buzz Thomas as chair of its board of directors. He has served on the board since 2017. The leadership team of [...]
Without holding committee hearings, last week Senate Republicans in the Michigan State Legislature voted to reject five of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s nominees for appointments to various state boards. Among them was Jason Morgan, openly gay [...]
A traditional wine pairing dinner at a favorite restaurant may seem out of bounds right now due to the constraints brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic, but Royal Oak’s Café Muse has found a [...]
LANSING — Fair and Equal Michigan, the campaign to pass Michigan’s first LGBTQ equal rights law through a citizen initiative, filed its annual campaign finance report today showing $2,932,837 raised from 1,407 individual grassroots donors despite [...]
Ferndale Pride is partnering with four local businesses this Valentine's season to raise funds for its 2021 festival, which was canceled last year due to concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic. The businesses, Blumz by [...]
