December 4, 1945 – January 11, 2016
A founder in 1979 of the Lansing Association for Human Rights, William Beachler later helped establish the Pride Scholarship for LGBT students at his alma mater Michigan State University.
Tag: activists
LeRoy Holmberg Jr.
April 24, 1947 – October 18, 2000
LeRoy Holmberg Jr., an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit-Mercy and past Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Council president, was long active in various local LGBTQ organizations.
Heather MacAllister
February 25, 1968 – February 13, 2007
Heather MacAllister was a staffer for the Triangle Foundation in the 1990s. She later moved to San Francisco where she founded Big Burlesque, the original Fat Bottom Revue. Suffering from ovarian cancer, she died by assisted suicide at age 38.
Bay Area Reporter, February 22, 2007
Between The Lines, February 22, 2007
Lesbian Connection, May/June 2007
David Krumroy
June 30, 1949 -January 18, 1989
His 1975 arrest in an undercover police crackdown on homosexual activity in Hines Park prompted David Krumroy to help form the Association of Suburban People. Krumroy went on to edit Metro Gay News and co-found the Motor City Business Forum. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 39.
Helen Gallagher
December 18, 1948 – February 6, 2009
A former Catholic nun, attorney Helen Gallagher earned her law degree from the University of Michigan. She went on serve as president of the Michigan Organization for Human Rights in the mid-1980s and as a member of the Ann Arbor Human Rights Commission.
Lesbian Connection, May/June 2009
James Dressel
October 14, 1943 – March 27, 1992
James Dressel flew combat missions for the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War before being elected from Holland to the Michigan Legislature, a seat he lost due to sponsoring a bill to include sexual orientation under the state’s civil rights protections. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 48.
Jean Ross
March 17, 1924 – June 11, 2010
Retired school teacher Jean Ross in 1981 founded the Lansing chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She was also active in the Lansing Association for Human Rights and the Lansing Area AIDS Network.
Susan Green
March 17, 1954 – October 27, 1986
New Jersey native Susan Green worked as a field organizer for the Michigan Organization for Human Rights from 1983 to 1985 before moving to Madison, Wisconsin.
Lorraine Leroux
July 11, 1920 – February 28, 2004
Active in the Lansing women’s community and such groups as Sistrum and PFLAG, Lorraine Leroux helped two lesbians escape from a Minnesota mental hospital in the 1950s.
Between The Lines, April 1, 2004
Lesbian Connection, May/June 2004
Ken Dudley
November 3, 1946 – April 28, 1991
A graduate of Wayne State University, Kenneth T. Dudley was a pioneering activist with the Detroit Gay Liberation Front and speaker at the city’s first pride march and rally in 1972. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 44.
No known obituary.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 