January 18, 1925 – July 27, 2006
Longtime Detroit City Council president Maryann Mahaffey toured several gay bars on election eve during her first campaign for Council in 1973. In the decades that followed, she never wavered in her support for the LGBTQ community, from helping include sexual orientation in the city’s human rights ordinance to opposing the Prop 2 initiative that banned same-sex marriage in the state constitution.
September 26, 1941 – December 10, 2010
Allegan resident Dianna “Jo” Bortz and her husband Jay were active in the Holland/Lakeshore chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Saugatuck. Prior to retirement, Bortz worked in senior care and protective services.
April 23, 1917 – August 28, 1983
Harvey Blanchard grew up in Dexter and worked as a liquor store clerk and sales manager for a tombstone business before acquiring the Flame Bar in Ann Arbor in 1959. He went on to operate the Flame for 23 years.
January 16, 1927 – March 31, 2002
Born in Royston, Georgia, Sally Mae McCoy moved to Detroit following World War II and attended Fleming Beauty School in the 1950s. In addition to teaching cosmetology and operating a hair care business, she worked for 20 years as a custodian with the Detroit Public Schools. Rev. Renee McCoy was among her five children.
May 28, 1944 – March 31, 2014
West Bloomfield resident Linda Lee became active in the Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition in the early 1990s after learning of discrimination gay men were experiencing at the height of the epidemic. In her commitment to social justice she later founded Jewish Gay Network and was a tireless advocate for LGBTQ people in Southeast Michigan.
November 4, 1914 – January 18, 1991
Pianist Stennis Ousley accompanied Bramwell “ChiChi” Franklin at the Golden Slipper and other venues in the 1950s. She performed solo at various straight and gay bars into the 1980s, including the Willis Show Bar, the Tryst Club, and the Deck.
No known obituary.
June 18, 1962 – July 12, 2012
A native of Flint, Kelly Miller moved to Kalamazoo in 1998 and worked with State Farm Insurance. As a tireless “PFLAG mom,” she volunteered for various local LGBT causes, including the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center, the annual Pride celebration, and an anti-bullying campaign through her job.
August 2, 1934 – June 26, 2006
A graduate of Michigan State University, Clinton Township resident James Johnstone taught math with the Fraser Schools for 30 years. He served as a union leader with the Michigan Education Association, was long active in Democratic politics, and was an ardent supporter of the ACLU, NOW, and PFLAG.
November 19, 1955 – September 27, 2003
As board chair and educator with Gospel Against AIDS/Global Research, Education, and Training Network, physician Isabello Reyes Jr. pushed for AIDS education, care, and civil rights protections. In addition to his advocacy, Reyes taught at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Detroit.
December 19, 1928 – April 15, 2005
An accounting clerk in local radio before her retirement in 1983, Helen King was active in the Cub Scouts, Little League, Dolphin Swim Team, Alliance of Mental Health, and Salvation Army in Midland. In the late 1980s, King co-founded the local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 