December 26, 1943 – May 12, 1995
Born in Detroit, hairdresser Anthony Caputo attended the Virginia Farrell Beauty School and landed a job at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York at age 20. He returned to Michigan in the early 1980s and later learned he was HIV-positive. Caputo went on to help found AIDS Walk Detroit and work as volunteer coordinator for Wellness House. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 51.
Detroit Free Press, May 18, 1995
October 29, 1961 – February 10, 2000
Scott Lawrence, a homeowner in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, graduated high school in Warren and was employed with area advertising agencies. He volunteered with Affirmations Community Center and for a time worked as a waiter at the Backstage Deli. Lawrence was survived by his life partner Ron Fisher.
August 12, 1948 – March 16, 2013
Joyce Jackson earned her B.S. in interdisciplinary studies from Wayne State and worked as a personnel manager for the City of Detroit. After relocating to Lansing, she worked as assistant administrator the Meals-on-Wheels program. Jackson was a member of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. She was survived by her partner Jay Mitchell.
January 28, 1952 – February 27, 1992
Detroit native Richard Steven Shank graduated from Northville High School in 1971 and worked as a waiter and bartender at Morey’s and the Escape. Shank was also involved in local community theater and for a time performed female impersonation as Rickie Day. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 39.
December 25, 1929 – February 7, 2017
Lawyer, professor, and labor activist Patricia Eames earned her BA. at Reed College, her M.A. from Columbia, and her J.D. from Yale Law School. In the 1980s, she served as general counsel for Wayne State University. While in Detroit she and her life partner Connie Hart were active with the Forum Foundation and SEMGLA, the South East Michigan Gay/Lesbian Association.
March 14, 1927 – August 23, 2013
A suburban housewife and mother, Virginia Dolores Szymanski inherited the Royal Show Bar from her step-father in the early 1960s. While she owned and operated the Detroit bar, it became a popular gathering place for black sissies, black gay men, and black drag queens.
May 10, 1919 – December 25, 1995
A native of Philadelphia, William Angel Karagas served as a warrant officer during World War II. Beginning in 1954, he was the heterosexual owner of Detroit’s Woodward Lounge, which he operated for more than forty years with his brothers Sam and Andy.
Detroit Free Press, January 2, 1996
July 17, 1905 – December 11, 1980
Born in Italy, Joseph Accardi immigrated to the U.S., married in 1937, and worked as a storekeeper and an autoworker in Detroit before moving to Grand Rapids. He owned and operated Papa Joe’s Show Bar from the late 1950s until his death.
Grand Rapids Press, December 13, 1980
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.
August 3, 1948 – February 27, 2018
Former Ferndale resident Raymond Edward Shepherd was born in Detroit and studied at Oakland Community College and Lawrence Tech. He worked as a computer programmer and analyst for various firms and was a deacon and longtime member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. At the time of his death, Shepherd lived in a senior community in Hazel Park.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 