From July 28 through Aug. 2, campers ages 13 to 17 are invited to a welcoming trangender and gender non-conforming space to camp, do activities and connect with others at Trans/Gender Diverse Camp. The Camp [...]
Equality Michigan is Michigan's statewide LGBTQ political advocacy organization that focuses on anti-violence and anti-discrimination work as well as providing support services for those who have been victimized due to their sexual orientation. EQMI will [...]
Walking through any LGBTQ-friendly metropolitan area in the U.S. it's not hard to find a variety of gay bars. However, if one changes their destination to a lesbian-specific bar, the likelihood of seeking one out [...]
Lansing—Today Agustin V. Arbulu, Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, issued the following statement on the passing of Clif Levin, a long time volunteer board member and advocate for LGBTQ rights in Michigan: [...]
Every Michigander above the age of 6 or so should know of Lansing, and if they don't it's guaranteed that the decisions made in the state's capital have at some point had a direct impact [...]
In a new location inside the Education Building on Wayne State University’s main campus, the 9th annual SAGE Metro Detroit Older Adult Summit drew a crowd [...]
An Unlikely Pair, an Unlikely Pride Equality Michigan Chairman of the Board Michael Rowady and up-and-coming New York drag [...]
Kalamazoo Pride, a two-day festival celebrating southwest Michigan’s LGBTQ community, was at Arcadia Creek Festival Place June 7 to 8. Between The Lines spent the second day at the park, and spoke with individuals while they staffed vendor tables, enjoyed the entertainment, perused the merchandise or simply chilled out in the shade on that very sunny day. Here are just four of those stories.
In 1995, the University of Michigan held the first-ever Lavender Graduation. Twenty-four years later, more than 200 colleges and universities around the country hold similar celebrations. Between The Lines is proud to recognize LGBTQ graduates from eight campuses across Michigan who were honored in ceremonies held this spring.
Coming out as LGBTQ as a high school student or earlier is rarely a simple affair with an almost built-in expectation of a period of exclusion after doing so. However, what's not expected is for [...]
50 years ago, Greenwich Village in New York saw a team of police officers raid its gay club, Stonewall Inn. The acts of violence displayed that early morning led to protests, riots, mobs, and hospitalization for both club-goers and officers. Pride was born out of this resistance against police brutality.
Flint natives Dorie and Brian Barkey are honoring the legacy of their late son John Bradford Bohl with the creation of a new LGBT choir at their local church.
A time for celebration and excitement, June is a significant month for the LGBTQ community because it is also a time for reflection on the hard-won fight for equality that kicked off at the Stonewall [...]
Sharing the Love “You just felt pure love,” Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said, of the cheers she received at this year’s Motor City Pride parade as she and her team marched down Griswold St. “It was [...]
After registering young people to vote in unprecedented numbers prior to the 2018 midterms and contributing to the massive youth turnout for that election, NextGen America is only gaining momentum.
This story originally appeared in Oakland County Times Oak Park – With Council members Carolyn Burns and Ken Rich voting no, Oak Park City Council adopted a policy to govern all flag-flying requests, as well [...]
Detroit looked markedly more colorful last weekend as it bustled with thousands of people clad in all manner of rainbow flags on their way to attend Motor City Pride 2019 in Hart Plaza. Host to over 50,000, the event featured performances by drag greats like Sabin and Ongina, showcased local artists like Tunde Olaniran and brought in nationally known musical acts like Greyson Chance.
Making History Thursday, June 6, marked a historic moment not only for the local Michigan LGBTQ community but for the business community, too, [...]
The Huntington Woods City Commission voted unanimously at its June 4 meeting to enact an ordinance banning the practice of conversion therapy within the city limits. Violators will be guilty of a municipal civil infraction. Huntington Woods is now the first and only city in Michigan to ban the practice. The ordinance was introduced by City Commissioner Joe Rozell.
Click on the arrows to scroll through the gallery. All photos by Andrew Cohen.
Devon Robinson. Devon Robinson of Detroit was charged last Thursday with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of 21-year-old Alunte Davis, 20-year-old Timothy Blancher and 20-year-old Paris Cameron. Davis and [...]
Thousands of LGBTQ people from Southeast Michigan and beyond congregated on Saturday, June 1, to kick off pride month together at Ferndale Pride 2019.
Twenty seconds. According to Jill Lash's research, that's the time it takes to give the perfect hug. And as she's the Free Mom Hugs Southeast Michigan chapter co-leader, she's likely more qualified than most to [...]
Hazel Park: “The Friendly City” Just a few miles east and a few hours prior to the opening of Ferndale’s big event, Pride month kicked off in Hazel Park with two much smaller, but no [...]
A crowd of more than 100 showed up Wednesday, June 5, to watch the LGBT Pride flag be raised in Spirit Plaza just outside the Coleman A. Young Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown [...]
The Stonewall uprising had reverb. Multiple nights of rioting against police in June 1969 sent shockwaves across the country and sparked gay organizing on a mass scale. A new, radical group in New York called [...]
LANSING — Today, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, along with Sen. Jeremy Moss (D–Southfield), and Reps. Jon Hoadley (D–Kalamazoo) and Tim Sneller (D–Burton) — members of the Michigan Legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus — renewed the decades-old call to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act by adding [...]
Shortly after signing an official proclamation declaring June Pride month in advance of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer attended a community town hall meeting at the Affirmations LGBTQ community center [...]
LANSING – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered U.S. and Michigan flags within the State Capitol Complex and on all state buildings to be lowered to half-staff until sunset on June 4, 2019, to honor the [...]
Programmatic expansion, fund and staff development, political advocacy and more are all either current or future projects at Ferndale's Affirmations LGBTQ community center. From the outside, that list might seem like an average set of [...]
The board of directors of Affirmations added five new members to their ranks at their May 22 meeting. Those new board members are Angela Gabridge, Donnie Johnson, Kathrine Lorenz, Kennedy Shannon and Cass Varner. “These [...]
Thank You, Ferndale “I am forever thankful that my political career was here in Ferndale, because I’m not sure it could have happened somewhere else,” said Mayor Dave Coulter, who announced in April at the [...]
Though now seeing a corporate presence at a pride parade or hearing about an openly gay sports star is becoming more commonplace, it's important to note that those two worlds have not historically been beacons [...]
by David Kiley DETROIT — The producers of BoxFest Detroit have announced performance dates for BoxFest Detroit 2019, an annual theater festival that showcases and creates opportunities for female-identifying directors. BoxFest Detroit 2019 will run [...]
Our beloved writer, friend and confidant Charles Alexander suffered a stroke Monday and is currently recuperating at Detroit Receiving Hospital. Charles has written for the paper since its inception in 1993, completing nearly 1,000 of [...]
Despite operating a martial arts school for decades, practicing various forms for almost 50 years and pioneering early self-defense courses for women across the U.S., Central America and Europe, Ferndale Meijishi Martial Arts founder and [...]
Life, love and HIV within the context of the black, gay male experience was the topic of a town hall gathering on Friday, May 17, held at LGBT Detroit's brand-new expanded campus known as its [...]
Though urban areas are often considered huge draws for those in the LGBTQ community — a 2015 Gallup poll found that San Francisco, Portland and Austin all ranked highest in the country for the largest LGBTQ population — little is written about those LGBTQ people who choose to call rural communities home.
The first annual National Trans Visibility march will be held on Saturday, Sept. 28, in Washington, D.C. in honor of members of the LGBTQ community who are transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary. They will march [...]
A community event will be held in Douglas, on June 1, to honor the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprisings. In New York City, the events of Stonewall sparked a movement within the LGBTQ community. [...]
MADISON HEIGHTS – It would have been an impossible dream 30 years ago, to live with HIV for decades and to actually grow into old age with the virus. Yet with the medical advances and [...]
Alexandra Beninda (right) sitting next to Transgender Michigan founder Rachel Crandall-Crocker. Beninda is a volunteer at Ferndale Pride this year who will be giving out free hugs. Alexandra Beninda: Have Hugs, Will [...]
As a faith leader, the Rev. Kate Malin, Rector of Christ's Church in Rye, New York, wears a variety of hats: teacher, theologian, preacher. She is used to giving informed guidance to her parishioners and [...]
A Harsh Reality It’s no mystery why 17-year-old Ellie Nagel-Bennett is so passionate about the Equality Act: she’s experienced discrimination and homophobia first-hand, despite not identifying as LGBTQ herself. “You know that your parents are [...]
After a years-long campaign by the Graduate Employees’ Organization to expand healthcare coverage for transgender members, University of Michigan health plans will expand to cover new procedures to treat gender dysphoria. All U-M health plans [...]
Ozone House is set to open a new home for youth in crisis in Ypsilanti by the end of 2019. As of April, Ozone House’s "Front Door" fundraising campaign has raised more than $3.8 million [...]
Federation’s NEXTGen Detroit Pride celebrated its three-year anniversary in fabulous fashion with its Anniversary Gayla event on May 2, 2019. Hosted by local celebrity drag queen Sabin, the event was held at The Underground @ [...]
A total of 13 people came out to Affirmations April 30 for two community chats with returning executive director Dave Garcia who had just returned to the center the day before. Eight people, mostly members of the Senior Koffee Klatch, came out to the morning session and five to the evening. Four members of Affirmations' staff were present at each meeting and there were two board members at the morning section and three in the evening.
On Saturday, May 4, a collection of state politicians, representatives from LGBTQ non-profits and chairs of the Michigan Democratic Party LGBTQ&A Caucus arrived at a breakfast meeting to discuss collaborative strategies to hit the [...]
With the end-of-year rush surrounding final exams, summer plan finalizations and the packing up of dorm rooms, the average Grand Valley State University likely didn't notice that the end of April marked a small step toward increased LGBTQ inclusivity at GVSU, but this small change could send a resounding message in the West Michigan community: GVSU has amended its purchasing and overall discrimination policies to contract only with vendors who do not discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
