April 24, 1928 – May 22, 2020
Jerry Abraham Moore grew up in Detroit, graduated from Redford High School, and attended Wayne State before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950. Following his military service he became immersed in Detroit’s gay bar scene and from 1958 to 1960 served as secretary of the short-lived Detroit Area Council of the Mattachine Society, the first ever formal homosexual organization in Michigan.
July 15, 1968 – February 4, 1996
AIDS activist Steven Martin Korzetz graduated from Anderson High School in Southgate. He went on to earn a Bachelor’s in business from Wayne State University and later worked in the hotel industry in Dearborn. Given six months to live in 1992, Korzetz left his job and traveled to more than 40 countries. He became involved in Wellness Networks as well. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 27.
Detroit Free Press, February 7, 1995
March 27, 1938 – September 21, 1994
Native Detroiter William John Thompson served in the Army, earned a Master’s from Wayne State, taught public school, and worked in advertising. He was active in multiple organizations, including ASP, MOHR, Dignity, BWMT, and MAPP. Thompson was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Detroit area Pride Banquet in 1993. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 56.
April 12, 1938 – October 23, 2010
Huntington Woods resident Frank Gordon Martin was born in Detroit, graduated with the January 1957 class from Pershing High, and attended Wayne State University. Martin later operated a textbook store near campus and in the 1980s was president of the Association of Suburban People. He was survived by Al Vezza, his life partner of 54 years. The two met on a streetcar just before Martin’s 18th birthday.
May 8, 1945 – November 22, 1991
Queens, New York native Michael Jay “Mica” Kindman attended Michigan State University in the mid-1960s and edited East Lansing’s first alternative newspaper The Paper. Kindman later lived in Boston and San Francisco and became active in the Radical Faeries. His autobiography, My Odyssey through the Underground Press, was published posthumously. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 46.
February 20, 1966 – July 19, 2000
Stephen Gendin was a teenage member of Mensa and valedictorian of the Ypsilanti High School class of 1984. While studying at Brown University, he learned he had HIV. Gerdin went on to become a leading activist in ACT UP/New York, a columnist for POZ magazine, and the founder of Community Prescription Service, a mail-order pharmacy distributor. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 34.
January 7, 1967 – June 26, 2004
Schawne Anthony Parker grew up in Detroit, graduated from Chadsey High School in 1985, and attended General Motors Institute before completing his B.S. in chemistry at Michigan State University. He served as first president of Men of Color Motivational Group and was later executive director of the HIV/AIDS agency Center Health Outreach Workers. Parker was survived by his longtime partner Marius Padieu.
March 5, 1951 – April 17, 1996
Native Detroiter Floyd Dunn was a playwright, civil rights activist, and leader in the 1980s of the Detroit Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays. Dunn later served as the founding director of the Black AIDS non-profit organization Project Survival and advocated for the inclusion of men and women of color in clinical trials. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 45.
No known obituary
May 8, 1998 – July 3, 2018
Al Davey attended East Kentwood High School in Kentwood and went on to study communications and creative writing at Eastern Michigan University. They also edited Cellar Roots, the EMU literary and arts magazine and authored At the Close: A Collection of Poems. Davey was non-binary and active with the campus group QUEST, Queer Unity for Eastern Students. They took their own life at age 20.
Grand Rapids Press, July 4, 2018
September 16, 1955 – April 19, 1993
Dallas Skeet Williams Jr., from Detroit, moved to San Francisco to live a more openly gay life. He worked as a nurse and a massage therapist and became involved in modeling, bodybuilding, doing drag, photography, and performing in adult videos. As a revolutionary HIV+ union activist, he protested with ACT UP and fought police brutality. Williams lost his life to diabetes.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 