1990s

1990: 10% of U, new group for gay and lesbian students, forms at Grand Valley State University.

1990: ACT UP targets University of Michigan Regent Deane Baker for anti-gay stance.

1990: Activists protest arrest of 17 men in two-month surveillance of sex at an Adrian park.

1990: Bruce Dettloff, former owner of the Gold Coast Saloon in Detroit, is shot and killed in his home.

1990: Cumulative number of AIDS cases in Michigan surpasses 2,000.

1990: Fire strikes Lesbian Center and offices of the Lesbian Connection in Lansing.

1990: Following furor over his blessing of same-sex couples, Rev. Zal Sherwood resigns from Jackson church.

1990: Former Allen Park postal worker Ernest Dillon sues U.S. Postal Service for anti-gay harassment on the job.

1990: General Motors agrees to stop using term "little faggot trucks" in promotional video.

1990: General Motors issues a company directive barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.

1990: Greater Lansing Gay Men's Chorus is expelled from River Terrace Church.

1990: Kate Burkhardt and Lynden Kelly open Common Language Bookstore in Ann Arbor.

1990: Knights of Columbus protests speaker from Dignity at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Park.

1990: Mark Weinstein and Spree Vance help form ACT UP/Ann Arbor.

1990: Men of Color Motivational Group forms in Detroit as outgrowth of AIDS awareness project for blacks.

1990: Michigan Department of Corrections forbids condoms for AIDS prevention in state prisons.

1990: Michigan holds first Human Rights Campaign Fund black-tie fund raiser at Hyatt Regency in Dearborn.

1990: Michigan State University trustees revise non-discrimination bylaw to expressly protect sexual orientation.

1990: Monthly lesbian and gay cable TV program begins airing in Oakland County.

1990: Motherwit Books and More closes in Lansing.

1990: Noel Siksai of Royal Oak founds Queer Nation-Detroit.

1990: Organizers of Michigan Womyn's Music Festival issue statement prohibiting S/M activities.

1990: Parents demand dismissal of gay English teacher from Zeeland schools.

1990: Steve Culver launches newspaper Ten Percent, later re-named the Michigan Tribune.

1990: Twenty-six Michigan athletes take part in Gay Games III in Vancouver, Canada.

1990: Vandals hit office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Students Association at Eastern Michigan University.

1990: Wayne County judge strikes down Michigan sodomy and gross indecency statutes.

1991: Activists protest newly opened Cracker Barrel restaurant in Belleville over anti-gay employment policy.

1991: Ann Arbor City Council unanimously enacts state's first domestic partnership ordinance.

1991: Author Jenifer Levin resigns from University of Michigan due to lack of non-discrimination by-law.

1991: Birmingham includes protections for sexual orientation in new Fair Housing Ordinance.

1991: Eastern Michigan University bans discriminatory acts against minority students, including lesbians and gays.

1991: Eight Michigan State University students pledge new gay fraternity Delta Lambda Phi.

1991: Ferndale voters defeat proposed civil rights ordinance with protections for lesbians and gays.

1991: Flint City Council unanimously enacts non-discrimination ordinance.

1991: Flint man Jecquin Stitt, an Oprah Winfrey look-alike, is finalist as Ladie's Home Journal contest.

1991: Genesee County Clerk denies marriage license to couple Michael Burton and Jim Patterson.

1991: Grand Rapids group AWARE, As We Are, forms for lesbians and gays in the Christian Reformed Church.

1991: Great Lakes Bears, a gay male social group, forms in Detroit.

1991: Hundreds of copies of Ten Percent are stolen from distribution sites at the University of Michigan.

1991: Lesbian and Gay Foundation of Michigan evolves into the Triangle Foundation.

1991: Longtime Lansing bars Joe Covello's and Trammp's close to make way for urban redevelopment.

1991: Michigan Womyn's Music Festival evicts attendee believed to be transsexual.

1991: MOHR issues Michigan Lesbian Health Survey.

1991: Newly-elected Network president resigns over criticism that she is not out.

1991: Okemos author Lev Raphael wins Lambda Book Award for his story collection Dancing on Tisha B'Av.

1991: PRIDE Gay/Lesbian Community Center opens at Unitarian Universalist Church in Flint.

1991: Public station WTVS Channel 56 in Detroit refuses to air documentary "Tongues Untied."

1991: Report of campus study committee recommends by-law change at the University of Michigan.

1991: Scholarship established at Wayne State University in memory of gay student Michael LaGatela.

1991: Tony Garneau, founder and owner of Gigi's in Detroit, dies at age 53.

1991: Ypsilanti resident Steve Roberts loses job after kissing his lover on WXYZ-TV talk show.

1992: Detroit News writer Deb Price begins first regular column on lesbian and gay issues in a major U.S. daily.

1992: Michigan Tribune ceases publication.

1992: Affirmations board members Susan Pittman and Christine Puckett are slain by neighbor.

1992: Birmingham City Commission includes sexual orientation protection in Fair Housing Ordinance.

1992: Birmingham parents voice outrage over inclusion of homosexuality in high school curriculum.

1992: Club Flamingo opens on Oakland in Pontiac.

1992: Club Paradise opens on S. Washington in Lansing.

1992: Fire guts TNT Health Club in Detroit.

1992: Grand Rapids City Commission votes down proposal to add "gender orientation" to civil rights ordinance.

1992: Jim Dressell dies from AIDS at age 48.

1992: LGBT swim team the Ann Arbor Queer Aquatics forms.

1992: Michigan State University trustees revise anti-bias policy to prohibit only unlawful discrimination.

1992: Michigan Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America votes to welcome lesbians and gays.

1992: University-wide task force recommends domestic partnership benefits at Michigan State University.

1992: Ypsilanti enacts protections for lesbians and gays in housing.

1993: Activists blast Maxie's owners for sponsoring homophobic rapper at their straight bar Harpo's.

1993: Bay County fish farmer launches state ballot drive to block gay rights in Michigan.

1993: Cumulative number of AIDS cases in Michigan surpasses 5,000.

1993: Dignity/Flint disbands after 18 years.

1993: First South East Michigan Pride Film Festival is held at the Magic Bag in Ferndale.

1993: Michigan Campaign for Human Dignity forms to combat anti-gay ballot effort.

1993: Minister protests gay tourist outing at Gaylord resort.

1993: Original printer refuses to print first issue of Between The Lines.

1993: Sailor from Westland held in beating death of gay shipmate.

1993: Three suburban Detroit newspapers refuse ads for Right Guy-Right Gal computer dating service.

1993: University of Michigan regents pass by-law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.

1994: Ann Arbor group begins effort to form Rainbow Oasis Center.

1994: Club Triangle opens on Dort Highway in Flint.

1994: Curtis Lipscomb launches Kick! magazine in Detroit.

1994: Ford LGBT employees form Ford GLOBE.

1994: Gay Ford executive Gary Rocus killed by two men he invited home from Ken's Pub in Detroit.

1994: Gay Republicans form local Log Cabin clubs in Detroit and Lansing.

1994: Gov. John Engler expresses opposition to anti-gay referendum because it would hurt tourism.

1994: Grand Rapids City Council adopts non-discrimination ordinance protecting "gender orientation."

1994: Jack Thurman's restaurant, popular 1960s Kalamazoo gay hang-out, is demolished.

1994: Jennifer Walters is ordained an Episcopal priest in Ann Arbor as an out lesbian.

1994: Prisoner in process of Male-to-Female sex change perplexes Michigan Department of Corrections.

1994: Stinger's opens on Sherwood in Detroit.

1994: University of Michigan Medical Center launches Comprehensive Gender Services Program.

1994: University of Michigan Regent Deane Baker accuses university of ignoring sex in Mason Hall as board considers domestic partnership benefits.

1995: Black Sisters and Brothers United forms in Grand Rapids.

1995: Chapter of national gay fraternity Delta Lambda Phi is established at Eastern Michigan University.

1995: Detroit Police investigate allegations that TNT Health Club permits gay men to have unprotected sex.

1995: Detroit's first gay rodeo held at the State Fairgrounds.

1995: Eight are arrested at their homes on felony counts of gross indecency in a Meridian Township roadside park.

1995: Eighth annual National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change conference is held in Detroit.

1995: Jonathan Schmitz kills Scott Amedure three days after taping "Jenny Jones" segment.

1995: Keith Orr and Martin Contreras open aut Bar on Braun Court in Ann Arbor.

1995: Lesbian performance artist Holly Hughes receives award as distinguished graduate of Kalamazoo College.

1995: The Copa Nite Club in Flint closes.

1995: Trustees at Michigan State University vote two-year delay of decision on domestic partnership benefits.

1995: Washtenaw County chapter of MCHD becomes the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project.

1996: OutPost reports that Steve Knollenberg, son of U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, is gay.

1996: Activists picket Chrysler Headquarters in Auburn Hills demanding non-discrimination policy.

1996: Allen Park School officials postpone addressing harassment of gay student Josh Winowiecki.

1996: Closeted Lansing State Journal sportswriter Bob Gross found murdered in his home.

1996: Eastern Michigan University trustees amend non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation.

1996: Ferndale residents form LGBT neighborhood association F.A.N.S.

1996: Flint's PRIDE Gay/Lesbian Community Center folds.

1996: Gay-Straight Alliance forms at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor.

1996: Gov. John Engler signs bill into law banning same-sex marriage in Michigan.

1996: Legendary Detroit disc jockey Ken Collier dies.

1996: Lesbian couple Leza Olsen and Joy Goldsmith are attacked in their Union Pier home. Olsen died as a result of her injuries, while Goldsmith recovered.

1996: Northern Michigan University president blocks effort to extend health benefits to same-sex partners.

1996: Officers arrest twenty in undercover operation against homosexual activity at a Grand Rapids area rest stop.

1996: Pronto! Video Bar opens on Washington Street in Royal Oak.

1996: Steve Culver launches new newspaper OutPost.

1997: Grand Rapids Press reporter Theresa McClellan comes out in Ellen-inspired column.

1997: AIDS billboards spark controversy among Detroit area agencies.

1997: Anti-gay crime wave sweeps Ferndale.

1997: Area 51 opens in Waterford.

1997: Asian lesbians in Detroit area form social and political group.

1997: Detroit Zoning Board denies request for expansion of Club Gold Coast.

1997: EDS extends domestic partnership benefits to employees.

1997: Erasing of National Coming Out Day chalkings causes furor at the University of Michigan.

1997: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network issues study of climate in Detroit area schools.

1997: Holly Van Scoy becomes first openly lesbian candidate for Grand Rapids City Council.

1997: Lapeer school board approves text book despite parental protests over homosexual content.

1997: Michigan State University trustees approve domestic partnership benefits for LGB faculty and staff.

1997: One-X opens on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.

1997: Parents request anti-homosexual point-of-view to counter gay speaker at high school in Muskegon.

1997: People of Diversity forms as official LGBT employee group at Chrysler.

1997: Sterling Heights police claim ten-month crackdown has reduced homosexual activity in park.

1997: Wayne-Westland school board removes sexual orientation from non-discrimination policy.

1997: Ypsilanti City Council enacts non-discrimination ordinance.

1998: Ann Arbor's legendary Flame Bar closes.

1998: Anti-gay vandalism reported at Central Michigan University.

1998: Christian Reform Church strips Grand Rapids minister of credentials for pro-gay views.

1998: Cumulative number of AIDS cases in Michigan approaches 10,000.

1998: Detroit City Council extends domestic partnership benefits to LGB city employees.

1998: Eastern Michigan University extends domestic partnership benefits to LGB faculty.

1998: Female-to-Male transsexual sues Birch Run schools to change sex on transcript.

1998: Marci Devernay is charged with running gay and straight escort services out of her Huntington Woods home.

1998: Michigan Supreme Court overturns murder conviction of Jonathan Schmitz and orders new trial.

1998: Real World Emporium in Lansing closes.

1998: Snub by Mayor Dennis Archer angers organizers of Detroit's Hotter Than July celebration.

1998: State Rep. Lynne Martinez of Lansing introduces bill to add lesbians and gays to Michigan's hate crimes law.

1998: WDIV Channel 4 in Detroit airs three-part undercover expose on sex in public restrooms.

1998: Ypsilanti voters uphold non-discrimination ordinance.

1999: Ann Arbor amends to non-discrimination ordinance to protect gender identity.

1999: Black gay and lesbian organizations in Detroit announce boycott of MAPP women's health conference.

1999: Jury awards $25 million to Amedure family in wrongful death suit against the "Jenny Jones" Show.

1999: Legacy 2000 opens on Warren in Detroit.

1999: Michigan chapter of Intersex Society of North America forms in Lansing area.

1999: Michigan State Police post sex offender registry on its Internet website.

1999: Police make a series of drug arrests at Detroit gay bars.

1999: Question of human rights ordinance in Ferndale to go to voters.

1999: Ruth Ellis turns 100.

1999: Triangle Foundation issues report blasting undercover police operations targeting gay men