June 13, 1938 – February 24, 1991
Former grocer Anthony Garneau acquired Gigi’s on Detroit’s west side in 1973 and transformed it into one of the city’s most enduring LGBTQ nightspots.
Tag: queer Michigan
M. Liz Marshall
March 16, 1968 – December 3, 2000
Employed with the Michigan Department of Social Services, M. Liz Marshall was also a writer and poet whose work appeared in the Atlanta based publication Clique and Detroit’s own Kick! magazine.
Sherwin Wine
January 25, 1928 – July 21, 2007
Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founder of the Birmingham Temple and the Humanistic Judaism movement, hosted a monthly gathering of closeted gay professionals called the First Sunday Group that provided discreet financial support to more public LGBTQ activism in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Elaine Milliken
June 4, 1948 – October 6, 1993
Attorney and Traverse City native Elaine Milliken devoted her life to human rights, women’s issues, and the environment. She was the daughter of former Michigan governor William Milliken.
Gregory Kamm
October 19, 1950 – June 3, 2008
Gregory Kamm helped found the Gay Liberation Front at Western Michigan University in 1971 and later served as secretary for the Gay Liberation Movement at Michigan State University.
Michael Crawford
October 9, 1942 – May 12, 1988
Ernest Michael Crawford worked as a bartender at the Woodward Lounge in Detroit before becoming longtime co-owner in 1974 of Menjo’s. He died from AIDS-related complications at age 45.
Sal Connor
August 17, 1923 – June 20, 1988
Lenora “Sally” Connor, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and later worked as a postal worker in Grand Rapids. She was a founding officer in 1977 of the Michigan Organization for Human Rights.
Paula Ettelbrick
October 2, 1955 – October 7, 2011
Legal director for the Lambda Legal Defense from 1988 to 1993 and longtime activist, Paula Ettelbrick earned her law degree from Wayne State University and served as an officer for the Michigan Organization for Human Rights in the mid-1980s.
New York Times, October 8, 2011
Gay People’s Chronicle, October 21, 2011
Paula L. Ettelbrick papers in the Human Sexuality Collection
Betty Leonard
March 23, 1924 – August 19, 2014
Betty Leonard worked as manager of the State Bar in Flint from the late 1950s to the early 1980s.
Dennis Ashby
April 15, 1948 – September 18, 2010
Longtime Utica resident Dennis Ashby worked as a waiter and bartender at various Detroit bars from 1968 until his death in 2010, including Eddy’s, Morey’s, the Adobe, Todd’s, and the Gold Coast.
Michigan LGBTQ Remember 