July 2, 1959 – May 23, 1987
Abraham “Ty” Bady grew up in Saginaw, graduated from Buena Vista High School, and attended Ferris State University before moving to San Francisco in 1982. Bady was active in the organization Black and White Men Together. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 27.
Saginaw News, May 28, 1987
July 11, 1937 – April 9, 2014
Longtime Grand Rapids resident Myra Elizabeth Marshall was employed by City Water Repair and belonged to Reconciliation Metropolitan Community Church. She was preceded in death by her life partner Marcella Robinson.
Grand Rapids Press, April 23, 2014
November 12, 1929 – April 20, 2003
Originally from Beverly, Massachusetts, Marcella “Marcy” Louise Robinson served in the U.S. Navy from 1950 to 1955. She later moved to Grand Rapids, where she worked as a draftsperson and as an assembler for Laser Alignment. Robinson and her life partner Myra Marshall attended Reconciliation Metropolitan Community Church.
Grand Rapids Press, April 23, 2003
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.
October 20, 1966 – May 19, 2014
Vicki Arcaro grew up in Jackson and graduated from Jackson High School. She earned her Bachelor’s from Michigan State University and was employed as an imaging technician for Allegiance Health for 21 years. She died at age 47 after a three-year battle with cancer. Arcaro was survived by her wife Jaime Sabin and daughter Gabby.
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.
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
September 16. 1979 – July 23, 2014
Farmington resident Robert Edwin Quann Jr. attended Wayne Memorial High School, studied at Miss Katie’s College of Beauty in Canton, and worked as a hairstylist. In 2012, he became a member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit.
July 29, 1937 – September 21, 2011
Miami native Frimmitte “Louise” Griffin attended the University of Michigan in the 1950s and went on to become a pioneering female voice on Black radio in South Florida. She later served with a medical unit in the Women’s Army Corps during the Vietnam War. Griffin and her life partner Maryanne Powers met in 1963.
Lesbian Connection, January/February 2012
February 14, 1996 – February 12, 2016
Born in Tecumseh, Saja Mykel Nieto graduated in 2014 from Adrian High School, where he was active in the LGBT Club and the Color Guard. In addition to studying zoology at Northern Michigan University, Nieto worked at Pet Supplies Plus, as a supervisor at Adrian Image Center, and as a manager at B Fit.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 