Todd Heywood
Election dashes hopes of passing anti-bullying legislation
LANSING – The considerable and historic gains by Michigan Republicans in Tuesday's election is giving new voice to outgoing GOP members who say legislation to address bullying that has languished in the legislature for years is not going to be [...]
Oakland U students hold vigil
Professor Lisa Dalton, a sociology teacher and an out lesbian, who told students the LGBT faculty would be more visible going forward. Photo: Todd Heywood http://michiganmessenger.com AUBURN HILLS – Nearly 500 people gathered at Oakland [...]
Race for attorney general job turns ugly
This article ran in full on MichiganMessenger.com. The race for Michigan's next attorney general went from spirited to ugly Oct. 18. Debbie McIntosh, the mother of a murder victim who appears in a television commercial condemning Democratic nominee [...]
GOP sec. of state candidate takes hard right turn on LGBT issues
This article ran in full on http://www.MichiganMessenger.com Republican candidate for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson has issued a statement denying support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and disavowing her 2002 endorsement by [...]
MDOC ends HIV-positive prisoner food service ban
This article ran in full on http://www.MichiganMessenger.com. Since July 19, the Michigan Department of Corrections no longer bars HIV-positive inmates from working in food service positions. HIV-positive prisoners had been barred from such jobs, [...]
Suspect arrested in Battle Creek stabbing
This article ran in full on http://MichiganMessenger.com Authorities in Battle Creek have apprehended a suspect in a brutal stabbing case there. Police originally said they thought the July 25 stabbing was a hate crime, but now say the motive of [...]
Battle Creek stabbing possible anti-gay hate crime
This article ran in full on MichiganMessenger.com. BATTLE CREEK – While attention in Calhoun county has been focused on the massive oil spill in Marshall, on the same day as the leak, July 25, a 45-year-old Battle Creek man was brutally stabbed [...]
Lansing Police Dept. appoints first-ever LGBT liaison
LANSING – When Capt. Ray Hall of the Lansing Police Department was a patrol officer, he was assigned to Lansing's Old Town area. At the time, it was mostly a run-down commercial zone, with empty buildings and reputation of being dangerous. But it [...]
Have a happy Pride, but be aware of your surroundings
Written in consultation with Capt. Ray Hall, Lansing Police Department North Precinct Commander. It's fantastic to have another incredible Pride season before us. It has become a fixture of the Lansing community, helping our economy, strengthening [...]
Ex-gay ministry axed from Dept. of Corrections programming
The controversial ex-gay ministry Corduroy Stone of Lansing will no longer be recognized by the Michigan Department of Corrections or allowed to operate within the Michigan prison system.. John Cordell, spokesman for MDOC, released the following [...]
Undocumented youth protest could result in gay Iranian's deportation
TUSCON, Ariz. – A group of three undocumented youth and one permanent citizen were arrested May 17 at the offices of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for protesting Arizona's immigration law – including one student from Ann Arbor, Mich. The students – [...]
Four groups file brief in HIV-as-terrorism case
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and three Michigan groups who represent or work with HIV-positive individuals have filed an amicus brief in the case of Daniel Allen. Allen, 44, was charged last year with bio-terrorism for allegedly biting a [...]