Event Timeline: 1980s

1980: Gay Michigan State University student is forced to move out of East Lansing religious residence.

1980: Motor City Business Forum is founded.

1980: Police apprehend 16 men in crackdown on homosexual activity at Flint area rest stops.

1980: Police arrest 39 gay men in crackdown on solicitation in neighborhood of Lansing's gay bars.

1980: Redeemer Metropolitan Community Church is organized in Flint.

1980: Rick Rappaport produces series on the Lansing area lesbian and gay community which airs on WELM-TV.

1980: The Zoo opens on Portage Street in Kalamazoo.

1980: Two male students barred from entering Michigan State University dancathon fundraiser.

1981: Back Pocket opens on Greenfield in Detroit.

1981: Baptist church in Mason expels gay member.

1981: Chapter of Black and White Men Together is established in Detroit.

1981: Chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is formed in Lansing.

1981: Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Council is started for better coordination among community organizations.

1981: Detroit's Jennifer Foxx, a.k.a. Robert Bruno, wins Miss Gay America title.

1981: Diplomat Health Club opens on S. Division in Grand Rapids.

1981: Douglas Dunes gay resort opens on Blue Star Highway near Saugatuck.

1981: Feeling rejected over his homosexuality, Arthur Arroyo sets fire to Economics Building at the University of Michigan.

1981: First gay campus group forms at the University of Michigan-Flint.

1981: Michigan Department of Health reports state's first two deaths from AIDS.

1982: First Michigan transgender conference is held at Douglas Dunes near Saugatuck.

1982: Gubernatorial candidate James Blanchard expresses hesitance to support job protections for gay teachers.

1982: Hayloft Saloon opens on Greenfield in Detroit.

1982: Lansing police receive lesbian and gay awareness training.

1982: Lesbian Alliance forms in Greater Lansing.

1982: Michigan State University fraternity suspends member John Nowak for being gay.

1982: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Ann Arbor is founded.

1982: Telephone threats prompt cancellation of Flint Gay Coalition dance.

1983: Effort is made to revive a Detroit chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

1983: Gunman threatens demonstrators at Ann Arbor Gay Pride Week rally.

1983: Lansing residents file lawsuit over Ingham County funding of lesbian/gay hotline.

1983: Lizette Chevalier starts the Detroit Women's Coffeehouse.

1983: Railroad Crossing, later the Rainbow Room, opens on E. Eight Mile in Detroit.

1983: Saginaw man files suit against landlord for evicting him for being gay.

1983: State Rep. James Dressell introduces H.B. 5000 which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

1983: Three Rivers minister decries gay-oriented materials at local public library.

1983: Wellness Networks Inc. is established in Detroit to combat AIDS epidemic.

1984: Ameritech denies use of the words "gay" and "lesbian" in yellow pages ad for Detroit's Chosen Books.

1984: Calling sexual activity in Woodland Mall restrooms a "serious problem," Grand Rapids police arrest 27 men.

1984: Cruise Club, later Silent Legacy then Stilletto's, opens on Middlebelt Road in Inkster.

1984: Dignity/Tri-Cities is founded in Bay City.

1984: Gay computer club and bulletin board service STUDS 30 starts in Detroit.

1984: Gay Wayne State University professor Philip J. Traci found murdered in his home.

1984: Longtime Detroit bar owner Sam "Bookie" Stewart dies.

1984: MOHR officials meet with Michigan State University public safety to discuss homosexual activity in Union rest rooms.

1984: Off Broadway East opens on Harper in Detroit.

1984: Police arrest 31 for alleged homosexual liaisons at a I-275 rest area in Canton Township.

1984: President Harold Shapiro issues non-discrimination statement at the University of Michigan.

1984: Saginaw City Council passes ordinance protecting lesbians and gays from discrimination in housing.

1984: State non-discrimination bill, H.B. 5000, fails to pass legislature.

1984: The Nectarine opens on E. Liberty in Ann Arbor.

1985: Genesee County prosecutor charges AIDS carrier with attempted murder for spitting.

1985: Kalamazoo chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays forms.

1985: Lambda Car Club chapter forms for Detroit region.

1985: Lansing Mayor Terry McKane vetoes Fair Housing ordinance that would protect homosexuals.

1985: MOHR executive director Craig Covey debates Michigan Moral Majority leader David Clagget.

1985: Scott Amedure is among the new wait staff at the grand opening of Popper's in Pontiac.

1985: State Bar owner Melva Earhart dies at age 71 in Flint.

1985: University of Michigan law professor James Martin becomes Washtenaw County's first AIDS death.

1985: Wayne State University amends non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation.

1985: WDIV-TV in Detroit cancels appearance of William Townsend because of camera crew's fear of AIDS.

1986: Lansing State Journal publishes names of 42 arrested in videotaped surveillance of rest stop near Holt.

1986: Battle Creek jury rejects homosexual panic defense in trial of David Stewart for the murder of Wayne Waltz.

1986: Bruce Hayes launches Adam and Even More gay computer dating service out of his Grand Blanc home.

1986: Camp Whatyawanabe, a lesbian-only campground in Huron County, draws fire from nearby residents.

1986: Formation of Gay/Lesbian Student Organization at the University of Michigan-Dearborn sparks controversy.

1986: Kalamazoo jury finds Wayne Watson's slaying by teens justified because of alleged homosexual advances.

1986: Michigan Civil Rights Commission designates AIDS a handicap under state law.

1986: MOHR resumes statewide Pride marches in Detroit.

1986: State Public Health director estimates that 43% of people with AIDS in Michigan are Black.

1986: Wellness Networks-Huron Valley, later the HIV/AIDS Resource Center, forms in Ann Arbor area.

1987: Gay Community News is barred from Michigan prison system.

1987: Bay City police arrest 15 men in Veteran's Memorial Park for homosexual and bisexual pick-ups.

1987: Detroit City Council funds establishment of MOHR community center.

1987: Gay activists protest visit of Pope John Paul II to Detroit.

1987: Grand Traverse city council member resigns in furor over anti-gay remarks.

1987: Group of Detroit area people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS form FRIENDS Alliance.

1987: Marci Devernay starts Men 4 Men escort service for Detroit area gays and bisexuals.

1987: Owner of Whisper's in Saginaw pledges to stay open despite threats from neighbors.

1987: Several suburban Detroit cable companies refuse to air MOHR television program.

1987: The Gay and Lesbian Community Network of Western Michigan forms in Grand Rapids following March on Washington.

1987: United Church of Christ minister Cyril Colonius is ousted from his congregation near Kalamazoo.

1987: Uproar cancels Ann Arbor speech by representative of the North American Man-Boy Love Association.

1988: American Family Association requests removal ofYoung, Gay & Proud from the Saginaw Public Library.

1988: Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Anti-Violence Project records 115 incidents of anti-gay crime for the year.

1988: First Michigan display of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is held at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

1988: Gay Hazel Park cop Michael Foley wins suit against Detroit police for anti-gay harassment.

1988: Grand Rapids gay community claims media coverage of lesbian suspects in nursing home murders is unfair.

1988: Grand Rapids Mayor Gerald Helmholdt refuses to formally recognize city's first gay pride celebration.

1988: Kellogg refuses to pull allegedly homophobic "Nut 'N Honey" commercial.

1988: Lesbian and gay resource phone line begins operation in Kalamazoo.

1988: Lesbian/Gay Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party is established.

1988: Michigan Organization for Human Rights files lawsuit against Michigan sodomy law.

1988: Midwest AIDS Prevention Project is formed in Ferndale.

1988: National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays moves its headquarters to Detroit.

1988: New state AIDS disclosure law makes it a felony to conceal HIV infection from sex partners.

1988: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays chapter started in Flint.

1988: Shortly before enacting new hate crimes statute, state lawmakers delete "sexual orientation" from protections.

1988: Simcha, an organization for the Jewish lesbian and gay community, is founded in Southfield.

1988: The Network in Grand Rapids opens gay and lesbian community center on S. Division.

1988: University of Michigan student Josh Simon starts on-line discussion forum LGM:RAP.

1988: Wellness Networks in Flint claims its lease was broken due to fear of AIDS.

1989: Affirmations Community Center is established for Detroit area lesbians and gays.

1989: AIDS Care Connection is established in Detroit.

1989: Cumulative number of AIDS cases in Michigan surpasses 1,000.

1989: Debate rages at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival over whether to allow male children of attendees.

1989: Fire guts dormitory room of gay student Jerry Mattioli at Michigan State University.

1989: Gay rights supporters hold hug-in at Moriarty's Pub in Lansing to protest policy against same-sex affection.

1989: Lansing Gay Men's Chorus is founded.

1989: Livingston County judge revokes custody of two daughters from lesbian Debra Lamberson.

1989: Midwest AIDS Prevention Project survey finds gay and bisexual men in Michigan having safer sex.

1989: PFLAG/Detroit releases video documentary Listening, Learning, Loving, produced by Fred Shaheen.

1989: Rev. Renee McCoy establishes Full Truth Unity Fellowship Church in Detroit.

1989: Ron DeVrou is appointed graduate assistant for lesbian and gay issues at Western Michigan University.

1989: Statewide Pride March moves to Lansing in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Stonewall.