April 12, 1944 – August 27, 1986
Charles Tyson served as vice president of the Michigan Organization for Human Rights in the mid-1980s. He and his business partner Kathie Dannemiller formed the consulting firm Dannemiller Tyson Associates in Ann Arbor. He was also active in the Human Rights Campaign Fund and the Republican Party.
September 5, 1934 – July 3, 2011
Minnesota native Vicki Marlane was among a troupe of female impersonators who performed at the Diplomat Lounge in Detroit in the early 1960s. Born Donald Sterger, Marlane underwent gender affirmation surgery in San Francisco, where she continued to perform into her 70s. She was subject of the 2009 documentary Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight. She died from AIDS-related complications at age 76.
Bay Area Reporter, July 14, 2011
Vicki Marlane photographs and artifacts at the GLBT Historical Society
April 2, 1949 – June 30, 1996
Jim Paffenbarger, also known as Jimmy Leather, attended the University of Michigan for one year from 1967 to 1968 before going to work for radio station WABX. He soon returned to Ann Arbor where he was employed with the student station WCBN and later served as chief engineer at WUOM.
July 8, 1929 – September 23, 2012
A native of Breckinridge, Texas, Nita Hardie served as political science professor from 1964 to 1992 at Western Michigan University. There, she inaugurated courses on race and gender, established the Women’s Studies Program. Hardie was also a founding member of the Michigan Democratic Party Women’s Caucus.
July 21, 1964 – May 8, 2010
Eaton Rapids native Roger “Chip” Neufer II worked as a custodian with the local schools in the 1980s and later owned and trained horses for harness racing. He shared a home in Lansing’s Old Town with partner Mark Mattocks.
May 2, 1964 – December 14, 2014
Sharon Schnipke of Lowell graduated from Kenowa Hills High School in Grand Rapids and earned a degree in accounting from Davenport University in 1984. She was a claims administrator with Foremost Insurance. Schepke was preceded in death by her life partner Renee Grant.
December 16, 1958 – December 8, 2014
Lowell resident Renee Grant worked as an independent real estate agent in Grand Rapids. She received support from Pink Arrow fundraisers in her seven-year battle with cancer. She was active in various local causes and delivered Christmas boxes for the Santa Claus Girls. Grant’s life partner Sharon Schnepke survived her by eight days.
February 5, 1940 – February 1, 2016
Judith Ann McNeill graduated from Wayne State University and worked for the Detroit House of Correction before moving to Holland in 1976. She operated the Zeeland Pet Shop in the 1980s and finished her career with Sears. McNeill was survived by her wife Nora Ewing.
August 8, 1908 – November 13, 1984
Autoworker Homer F___ was arrested in 1938 while cruising in the Strand Theater in downtown Flint. The judge in his case asked if he should be sterilized, if that would solve his condition. After completing probation, he served in U.S. Army during World War II, married, and later moved to Washington State, fathering five children.
Anacortes American, November 14, 1984
October 11, 1913 – August 20, 1997
Flint native Jack Pierson was a fierce Leftist. Employed by General Motors, following World War II, he and his longtime partner Robert Purcell moved to Long Island. After Purcell’s death in 1976, Pierson returned to Michigan where he became an avid supporter of the Flint Institute of Arts, donating dozens of photographs, etchings, and lithographs to the museum.
Flint Journal, August 22, 1997
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 