September 8, 1966 – January 3, 2004
Detroit resident Robert Allen Stubbs worked as a bartender at the Back Pocket and Rattlebox and was also employed for ten years by Ford Motor Company.
Tag: Detroit
Win Wells
April 3, 1933 – December 6, 1983
Originally from Arkansas, Winfred Wells was raised in Detroit and in the 1950s became a noted local beatnik poet. In the 1960s he performed female impersonation under his own name at the Diplomat Lounge. Wells subsequently moved to England, where he wrote screenplays and lived with his longtime companion, director Silvio Narizzano.
London Times, December 8, 1983
Bill Gunther
April 26, 1955 – September 27, 1991
Born in Detroit, Wilmer Gunther Jr. worked for many years at the Deck in Detroit and performed locally as Hummin Helen. Gunther also worked as a floral designer. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 36.
Gilbert Whelden Jr.
March 23, 1921 – June 12, 2018
Detroit native Gilbert Hart Whelden Jr. attended Cranbrook Academy and Olivet College before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later graduated from Michigan State University and worked as an interior designer for J.L. Hudson. He was also a member of the Forum Foundation and Unlimited Seniors. In retirement, Whelden shared a home in Leland with his partner Paul Kieren.
Sharon Piazza
September 2, 1941 – April 20, 1992
Detroit native and onetime resident of Dallas, Texas, Sharon Piazza worked as a bouncer at Menjo’s in Detroit and performed in local community theater.
Bill Cornell
October 24, 1927 – July 6, 1961
Born in Detroit, William John Cornell attended Wayne University and, as one of city’s premier theatrical press agents in the 1950s, represented various stars when they visited the Motor City, including Ethel Merman and Marlena Dietrich. Cornell and his partner Peter Prass were killed when a fire gutted their Chicago Boulevard apartment.
Detroit Free Press, July 7, 1961
Amber MonRoe
May 23, 1995 – August 8, 2015
According to Detroit police, 20-year-old Amber Monroe was engaged in sex work In August 2015 when she was shot and killed near Six Mile and Woodward. She was the twelfth trans woman of color murdered in the U.S. that year. Monroe attended Oak Park High School, studied at Wayne State, and was a familiar face at the Ruth Ellis Center.
David Adamany
September 23, 1936 – November 10, 2016
David Adamany served as president of Wayne State University from 1982 to 1997. A native of Janesville, Wisconsin, he earned his B.A. and J.D. from Harvard and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. During his tenure at the helm of Wayne, he remained discreet about being gay. His sexuality was an open secret, however, and behind the scenes Adamany lent his support to various LGBT causes.
LeRoy Foster
May 8, 1925 – March 23, 1993
One of the most esteemed African American artists in Detroit history, LeRoy Foster was renowned for painting public murals in numerous buildings, including Cass Tech High School and the Frederick Douglass branch of the Detroit Public Library. As with many gay men of his generation, Foster was arrested on charges of accosting undercover vice in the 1950s.
Detroit Free Press, March 26, 1993
Janine Denommé
February 17, 1965 – May 17, 2010
Janine Denommé was born in Detroit and majored in religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. She later earned her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania and served as director of youth programs at the Center on Halsted in Chicago. In April 2010, Denommé fulfilled a lifelong dream and was ordained by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests contrary to the Church’s ban on women priests.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 