October 5, 1980 – December 13, 2014
Activist Robert Clark was past president of the Black Pride Society, which produces Detroit’s annual Hotter Than July celebration. He served on the Michigan HRC Steering Committee and was active in the Peninsula Group.
August 2, 1943 – February 13, 2017
Port Huron native Kristin Cookson attended Jackson High School and earned her B.S. in veterinary medicine from Michigan State University in 1965 and the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from MSU in 1967. She and her wife Suzanne Marie Lohrberg were together 49 years.
February 8, 1960 – June 23, 2015
Rex Allen Weaver grew up in Lansing, where he became a regular in his late teens at Trammpps. After moving to Atlanta, he enjoyed a long career as a hair stylist, most recently at the DASS Salon and Spa.
September 6, 1951 – July 7, 1995
A Sioux raised in South Dakota and formerly known as Mervyn Moore, White Eagle was a member of the Church of Today in Warren. In the mid-1980s, he was profiled for People magazine after drawing national attention for his tenor voice. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 43.
February 7, 1923 – February 20, 2012
Flint resident Alice G. Miller operated her own photography business and in 1982 retired from General Motors after 28 years with the company. She was among the many people who attended gay house parties hosted by Ruth Ellis in Detroit during the 1950s.
February 11, 1965 – March 4, 1993
Northville native Mark Jerome moved to Washington after graduating high school and worked as a waiter in numerous D.C. restaurants. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 28.
September 30, 1963 – January 1, 2014
Novi resident Lino Vincent Lopez grew up in Holland and was general manager of Mitchell’s Fish Market restaurant in Livonia. He was a supporter and volunteer, with life partner Todd Patrick Kananen, of Art Road.
June 19, 1928 – October 20, 1995
Negaunee native Jack Genore performed as Fat Jack at the Diplomat, the Gold Dollar, and other Detroit drag venues during the 1960s and 1970s. He was particularly noted for his rendition of “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.”
Mining Journal, October 22, 1995
September 16, 1958 – July 17, 2015
A graduate of Roeper High School in Birmingham, Sharon Gittleman earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and J.D. from the University of Detroit. She later left the field of law to pursue a career in journalism, serving as editor of the Royal Oak Mirror and a freelance writer for Between The Lines.
April 17, 1927 – April 18, 1986
Raised as James Dunlap, Marion Dunlap Whitman worked as a sewing machine operator in the late 1950s and was one of numerous crossing-dressing African-American Detroiters entrapped on the streets by undercover vice. After serving 18 months in the State Prison of Southern Michigan, she moved to San Francisco.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 