David Custer, now an Emmy-winning out news anchor in Michigan, is confident in who he is today, but it wasn’t always that way. Custer, who covers Flint, Saginaw and Bay City on WNEM during the [...]
He had over 200,000 followers on TikTok and was known for his funny videos. In his latest, Rory Teasley, 28, spoke about the challenges of growing old. Now, he never will. Police allege Teasley, a [...]
When Mohamed Abdou was on the airplane taking a one-way flight from Egypt to the United States, he had a vision of what his future here might look like: “In six years I would find [...]
Grand Rapids-based drag queen Orion Story, aka Chance Lambert, became the first queen from Michigan to appear on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” with her brief appearance on Episode 1 of Season 14, which aired on VH1 [...]
2022 is bound to offer new beginnings, fresh awakenings and, hopefully, less Trump talk. In short, expect a lot of change. However, one thing will remain the same: people are still here and queer. To [...]
It took Donna Personna a long time to get up the nerve to put on a dress. “It took me 59 years to have the bravery to be who I really feel that I am: [...]
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield is in the news again, and this time it’s not related to his opposition to civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community. The Levering native, age 33, is being investigated [...]
Due to the rapidly increasing infection rate of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, Affirmations community center has implemented temporary, additional policies to protect staff and center guests. The changes were prompted when a volunteer tested positive for [...]
“Started from the bottom; now we here.” Incoming councilperson Melanie Rutherford chose the popular Drake song lyrics as part of her swearing in speech Sunday. Rutherford is one of seven new Pontiac councilpersons after voters [...]
LGBT Detroit has just announced a new partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services aimed at ending HIV/AIDS-related stigma. The state grant award of a whopping $294,000 is supplemented by a secondary, [...]
The Ann Arbor YMCA’s summer camp will now offer gender-neutral housing at Camp Al-Gon-Quian, located on Burt Lake in Northern Michigan. Campers can already self-choose a cabin that matches their gender identity. But now, campers [...]
Jim Toy, LGBTQ+ rights pioneer who was believed to be the first openly gay man in Michigan, died New Year’s Day at age 91. He leaves behind an inimitable legacy. Across Michigan, politicians, community organizers [...]
Detroit native Michelle Brown was recently welcomed onto the board of directors at Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBTQ+ community activist center and educational bridge. The New Jersey-based center, whose mission, in part, [...]
On April 15, 1970, at a large demonstration held in Kennedy Square in downtown Detroit to protest the war in Vietnam, Jim Toy became perhaps the first person in Michigan to publicly come out as [...]
The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission voted Tuesday to adopt the final congressional map for the next decade. The map, which the Commission referred to as “Chestnut,” received 8 votes from the 13-person panel. The [...]
Imani Williams, a Detroit native, left quite an impression on the city before relocating to Las Vegas. She contributed to Between The Lines and won the 2006 Media Award from the LGBT Pride Banquet for [...]
Art brought John Gutoskey and Peter Sparling together 31 years ago. Sparling was teaching dance at the University of Michigan. Gutoskey ran the costume shop in the university’s theater department. “Anybody who wanted to borrow [...]
Youth homelessness is a national epidemic, and it’s even more so for LGBTQ+ youth. According to the Williams Institute, 20 t0 45 percent of homeless youth served by agencies in 2020 identify as LGBTQ+. In [...]
A Michigan State University PhD candidate is conducting a study focused on the sex lives of gay men over 50. “SASSY: Study on Aging and Sexual Satisfaction Among Gay Men” is the brainchild of Lucas [...]
“Be authentic.” That’s the most important piece of advice state Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) said he would give an LGBTQ+ person considering a run for office today. The 10-year veteran of Michigan city and state [...]
Most of us experience loneliness and/or social isolation now and then. It’s part of the human condition. But there are some strategies experts suggest can soften the blow. Below are five tips for LGBTQ+ people [...]
A funeral mass was held at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Canton on Dec. 21 for Suraj Mahadeva, a 26-year-old former Plymouth resident who was shot and killed on Dec. 11. Various news outlets [...]
December’s coming to an end, and we all know that means holidays are flying at us left and right. With all that’s happening, it’s easy to forget to savor the fun times, whether that’s curling [...]
Greg Ruvolo of Lathrup Village has an interesting self-appointed title. “I’m currently a marketing and communications director for a small bank,” he told Pride Source. “I’m a communications and marketing expert. But, by purpose, I’m [...]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed an amicus brief Thursday in support of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) in the case of two businesses seeking to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people on the basis that it [...]
Emily Dievendorf had a problem. The advocacy director for the Lansing Association for Human Rights (LAHR) noticed the loneliness and isolation often felt among members of the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups was exacerbated [...]
As of press time, 173 Michigan residents are sporting a new, more accurate state ID card or driver's license after an updated gender marker policy was announced by the Michigan Secretary of State's office in [...]
The burden of taking a daily dose of PrEP might soon be lifted. According to updated CDC guidelines, bi-monthly injectable PrEP is expected to receive FDA approval by February. The injectable cabotegravir (CAB) would join [...]
While Jon Hoadley isn’t running for office this election cycle, the openly gay former state representative hasn’t been politically idle. Quite the opposite. Hoadley and his friend Jason Franklin have been busy relaunching the West [...]
You can call 2020 Latin Grammy nominee Gina Chavez a lot of things: Queer. Catholic. Bilingual. Singer. Songwriter. Pop rock artist. Social justice advocate. She’s also very much in love. All you have to do [...]
Fifteen openly LGBTQ+ Michiganders ran for elected office in 2021, according to Out on the Trail, a report compiled by the LGBTQ Victory Fund. Nine won their races. Compare those results to 2019, the last [...]
With the holiday season in full swing, it’s time to mix, mingle and celebrate (when it’s not time for your favorite cozy, indoor activities). Whether you’re the literary type or just in it for the Christmas [...]
Score one for LGBTQ+ rights and, more importantly, score one for LGBTQ+ youth in the small Southwestern Michigan town of Three Rivers. Just weeks ago, school district administrators ordered all LGBTQ+ Pride Flags in the [...]
Identical bills were proposed in the Michigan State House and Senate this week that would make it illegal for defendants of an alleged crime against an LGBTQ+ person to bring up the victim's sexual orientation [...]
Growing up, Russell Ball always knew he wanted to be a teacher. “Teaching was my first calling,” Ball, 43, told Pride Source recently. “I went to Western Michigan University to be a math and physics [...]
Artist Ludwin Cruz thinks in images. “I don’t talk to myself in my head, it’s just visuals of situations that are happening,” he tells Pride Source. “That’s just my language internally: It’s all visions.” Cruz’s [...]
“Gun violence has torn up many communities across the country,” wrote queer gun control activist X Gonzalez in a March 2018 op-ed for Teen Vogue. School shootings are something Gonzalez knows about. In February 2018, [...]
Close your eyes for a second and imagine a world that cares about sustainability. While there, you can aimlessly walk through a clothing aisle and see where and how material goods are produced. You can [...]
Four Michigan cities received the top score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 10th annual Municipal Equality Index. Ann Arbor, Detroit, East Lansing and Ferndale earned perfect scores based on factors such as [...]
As we wrap up the final months of 2021, we have also entered the season of health insurance enrollment. Open enrollment on the Health Insurance Marketplace began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15, 2022; and Medicare enrollment [...]
We’ve come a long way when it comes to HIV and AIDS misinformation. But the stigma and discrimination surrounding the conditions during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s still lingers today. For [...]
Five months ago, with assistance from Fair Michigan Justice Project (FMJP), Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit charged James Alan Greggs with committing a hate crime against a transgender woman in Ann Arbor. Now, Greggs, 59, [...]
Something is afoul in Cass County. Russell Ball, a physical education and health teacher at Three Rivers Middle School, walked off the job in the middle of the school day Monday after school officials told [...]
It’s hard to imagine a kerfuffle over putting library cards in the hands of school kids. But in Williamston, a small town east of Lansing considered politically purple, there have been some heated discussions. The [...]
Local government matters. Who sits on your city commission is important because those are the people who make the decisions that are closest to your front door. Municipal races don’t get the kind of breathless [...]
Listen, we know you’re tired. This year has been relentless. So you can imagine how excited we are about the extended weekends and holiday observances coming up. We’re ready to relax, celebrate and recharge. If [...]
Affirmations LGBTQ+ community center in Ferndale is enhancing and expanding their Behavioral Health Services program thanks to a new $250,000 grant from Oakland County. The grant, which will be administered by the United Way for [...]
Treva Bell Bass, who died November 8, was born into one of the most prominent and well-respected African American families in Detroit. Bass made her entrance into the world on July 31, 1955, the same [...]
Saturday, Nov. 20, marks the annual commemoration of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). It’s a day that nationally celebrates the lives of the transgender people we’ve lost. The special day was created in 1999 by [...]
Acting as primary caregiver for a dying parent is a heavy burden for anyone. Martin, who preferred not to use his last name, assumed that role for his mother after outliving his own cancer prognosis [...]
