The LGBT community in Metro Detroit is centered in Ferndale, Michigan, as of 2007. [1] As of 1997, many LGBT people live in Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, and Royal Oak. [2] Model D stated in 2007 that there are populations of gays and lesbians in some Detroit neighborhoods such as East English Village, Indian Village, Lafayette Park, and Woodbridge and that the concentration of gay bars in Detroit is "decentralized". [3]
Before World War II, Downtown Detroit served as the center of the LGBT community. It later shifted to New Center. [4] Around the 1970s the gay community in Detroit was centered in Palmer Park. [1] Due to crime occurring around Palmer Park in the 1980s, the LGBT community moved to Ferndale. [4] Wendy Case of Metro Times said "Ask three different people what happened to Palmer Park and you'll get three different answers. But all will eventually agree that crime is what dismantled Detroit's opportunity to have a gay renaissance akin to those of San Francisco and New York." [1]
Craig Covey, who later became a member of the city council of Ferndale, said that most of the former gay residents of Palmer Park "tended to move up Woodward Avenue and they settled in Ferndale, Royal Oak and Birmingham depending on their economic abilities. The middle-class folks came to Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge, as I did." [1]
Ferndale received the LGBT community because housing prices were higher in Royal Oak and typically LGBT communities move into lower priced neighborhoods which are then revitalized. A law against discriminating against homosexuals was enacted by the City of Ferndale. Covey first ran for a city council in the City of Ferndale in 1995. He won a city council seat in Ferndale in 1999 and later became Mayor of Ferndale. [4] In 2003 the Farbman Group, a real estate company renovating loft apartments in Detroit, began advertising to lesbians and gay men in an effort to get them to move into the complexes. [5]
By 2022, there were more tensions between the Muslim and LGBTQ voting groups in Dearborn and Hamtramck in regards to LGBTQ materials in schools. This was a political shift, in which Christian groups now courted Muslim groups which they previously opposed, in order to get more voters for politically conservative causes. [6] On June 13, 2023, the Hamtramck City Council introduced a resolution prohibiting the display of flags representing "any religious, ethnic, racial, political, or sexual orientation group" on city property, which was widely considered a targeted ban on the rainbow flag. [7] Following three hours of public comment, the Council passed the resolution unanimously. [8] Current mayor Amer Ghalib opposed displaying the pride flag, while former Mayor Karen Majewski had supported displaying the LGBT pride flag. [9]
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LGBT Detroit (formerly KICK) is an organization that serves LGBT African-Americans.
The Gay Liberation Front had a chapter in Detroit. [10]
Affirmations is a community center located in Ferndale. Affirmations is Michigan's largest LGBTQ community center and one of the 10 largest LGBTQ community centers in the country. The organization hosts a 15,000 square foot community space, art gallery, educational programming, health and wellness programming, cafe, youth center, library, and a resource desk. [11]
The Ruth Ellis Center is a non-profit organization located in Highland Park that provides short and long-term residential safe space and support services for runaway, homeless, and at-risk lesbian, gay, bi-attractional, transgender, and questioning youth. [12]
Many of the local universities, including Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, and University of Michigan, have on-campus LGBT resource centers.
Equality Michigan (formerly the Triangle Foundation) is a statewide political advocacy organization located in Detroit working towards the LGBT community's social, cultural, political, and economic wellbeing. [13]
SAGE Metro Detroit (formerly the LGBT Older Adult Coalition established in 2010) was established in 2015 "to build awareness and promote change so that LGBT older adults may age with dignity and authenticity". [14]
The Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce is located in Detroit and its mission is "to promote and empower our Metropolitan Detroit LGBT, allied business members, non-profit members, corporate partners and their employees through leadership, advocacy and education". [15]
Motor City Pride is held annually in Detroit. [1] Ferndale Pride is held in Ferndale. [4] Motor City Pride moved from Royal Oak to Ferndale in 2001, [1] and it was held in Ferndale until 2011, when it moved to Detroit. Ferndale Pride was started that year. [4] The "Hotter Than July!" annual LGBT festival, catering to black LGBT people, is held in the park Palmer Park in Detroit. [1]
In 1940s many gay men in Windsor, Ontario, went to Detroit as it had several gay bars, such as "Gay Paris". Some police officers in Windsor doing police work crossed the border and entered Detroit gay bars. [16]
Ruth Ellis, a black lesbian, held house parties at her residence, "The Spot". It became a socializing place for black lesbians and gay men, allowing them to avoid heterosexism and racism in their society. Ellis, who was featured in the documentary Living With Pride, was the oldest known black woman who identified as a lesbian until October 2001, when she died. She lived in Detroit until her death. [17]
The newspaper Between The Lines and the website PrideSource , published by Pride Source Media Group, LLC (PSMG), are headquartered in Livonia. The company opened in 1995. [18] A collective named the Gay Liberator had formed itself from the Gay Community Center and the Detroit GLF; this collective published the Gay Liberator. [10]
An LGBT film festival, Reel Pride Michigan, ran from 2002 through 2008 in Royal Oak. Hotter Than July has hosted a film festival since 2008 as part of their annual festivities. [19] The film festival continued through at least 2016. [20] In 2017, a film festival for queer filmmakers, Trans Stellar Film Festival, was founded. [21]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2023) |
In 2022 there were political controversies in the district regarding LGBTQ materials in Dearborn Public Schools. [22] In 2022, there were protests that advocated for removing certain books and protests that advocated against districts removing such books. [23] The district chose to discontinue holding seven titles. [24] Much of the impetus against LGBTQ books was driven by conservative Muslim advocates, who were backed by conservative Christian advocates. [6]
Notable LGBT people who have resided in the Metro Detroit area include:
Ferndale is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Ferndale borders Detroit to the north, roughly 10 miles (16.1 km) northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,190.
Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb in Metro Detroit, bordering Detroit to the south and west, and roughly 7 miles (11.3 km) west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976, ranking as the seventh-most populous city in Michigan. Dearborn is best known as the hometown of the Ford Motor Company and of its founder, Henry Ford.
Hamtramck is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Hamtramck is located roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) north of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 28,433, and was by far the most densely populated municipality in Michigan. It is notable as the only Muslim-majority city in the United States.
LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture, while the term gay culture may be used to mean either "LGBT culture" or homosexual culture specifically.
Ruth Charlotte Ellis was an African-American woman known for being an LGBT rights activist and the oldest surviving open lesbian at the age of 101. Her life is celebrated in Yvonne Welbon's documentary film Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100.
The Dearborn Public Schools is a school district that includes the entire city of Dearborn, Michigan and a small portion of Dearborn Heights, both in Greater Detroit. Dearborn Public Schools is the third largest school district in Michigan, serving 20,000 students. The district had a $233 million budget for 2021.
James Willis Toy was a long-time American activist and a pioneer for LGBT rights in Michigan.
Jeffrey Montgomery was an American LGBT activist and public relations executive. In 1984, his partner, Michael, was shot to death outside a Detroit gay bar, prompting Montgomery to engage in LGBT advocacy. He started work on LGBT anti-violence issues upon learning that the police were not spending many resources on solving the murder, "just another gay killing". In 1991 Montgomery became the founding executive director of the Triangle Foundation, and served until September 2007. Initially engaging in victim advocacy around LGBT violence, and to improve handling of LGBT related cases, the foundation's work expanded to LGBT civil rights and advocacy, with projects for anti-violence, media activism, and legislative education on LGBT civil rights. He became nationally known for his work and served at numerous organizations.
The Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District is a neighborhood located in Detroit, Michigan, bounded by Pontchartrain Boulevard on the west, McNichols Road on the south, and Covington Drive on the northeast. A boundary increase pushed the eastern boundary to Woodward Avenue. The district showcases some of the most ornate and most varied examples of apartment building design in Michigan, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Craig Covey is an American politician who served as Mayor of Ferndale, Michigan from 2008 to 2011. He was the second openly gay mayor elected in the state of Michigan. A Democrat, he resigned the office in 2010 to take a seat on the Oakland County Commission, where he served one term.
Equality Michigan is an American civil rights, advocacy and anti-violence organization serving Michigan's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Equality Michigan serves Michigan's LGBT community through victims services, lobbying on behalf of the LGBT community, public education on LGBT issues, and organizing Michigan's largest LGBT events such as Motor City Pride. The organization is a founding member of the Equality Federation.
Motor City Pride is an annual LGBT pride street festival, held in Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan the second Saturday and Sunday of June. Previously held in Ferndale, Michigan, the festival moved to Detroit in 2011. It is the largest LGBT event held in Michigan.
The Michigan Organization for Human Rights was a Michigan-based civil rights and anti-discrimination organization. It was founded in 1977 and disbanded in 1994, with most of its assets transferring to the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, Affirmations LGBT community center of Ferndale, and the Triangle Foundation—which replaced MOHR as the state's LGBT civil rights organization.
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,196,250 people, 1,682,111 households, and 1,110,454 families residing within the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area. Within the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area, there were 4,296,250 people residing. The census reported 70.1% White, 22.8% African-American, 0.3% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.2% of the population. Arab Americans were at least 4.7% of the region's population.
Islam is practiced by several Muslim American groups in Metro Detroit.
LGBT culture in Baltimore, Maryland is an important part of the culture of Baltimore, as well as being a focal point for the wider LGBT community in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Mount Vernon, known as Baltimore's gay village, is the central hub of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is a memorial wall in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". Located inside the Stonewall Inn, the wall is part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the country's LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty nominees were announced in June 2019, and the wall was unveiled on June 27, 2019, as a part of Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 events. Five honorees will be added annually.
Mike McFall is an American politician who has served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, McFall represents Michigan's 8th House District, representing parts of Madison Heights, Ferndale, and Detroit, along with all of Hazel Park, and Highland Park.
Mailing address Pride Source Media Group Between The Lines Newspaper 20222 Farmington Road Livonia, Michigan 48152
