I remember it like it was yesterday. June 21, 1996. My mom came home from work and asked me for a favor. Her boss’s son was going to be on TV, and since neither of them knew how to use the VCR to tape something she asked me to do it. Her boss (at the time) is the mother of […]

This transgender woman helps the community speak for themselves. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. Bré Anne Campbell doesn’t want to see another trans woman of color murdered. It’s a sobering problem across the country, but especially in Detroit, where Michigan’s lack of anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people often […]

Having embraced who he really is, this transgender man uses his voice to advocate for others. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. Until he came out as transgender at age 25, Jay Maddock felt trapped. He felt like a fraud for not presenting his authentic self to the world […]

This transgender woman’s advocacy helped her lifelong dream come true. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. When Michelle Fox-Phillips first realized she wanted to be a girl, she was only two or three years old. She and her male cousin were very close, like brothers, and one day they […]

The following guest post was written by my friend Chris Armstrong, Partnerships and Government Affairs Director for Small Business Majority. Chris was the former student body president of University of Michigan and experienced first hand the corrosive impacts of anti-gay bigotry at the hands of former state Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell who stalked and harassed him during his time […]

This transgender woman lived a double life for decades, but not anymore. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. To the rest of the world, it seemed like Becky Veal had a life anyone would want. She supported her wife and their three children, served in the U.S. Army, and […]

This transgender woman soared into a brave new world and isn’t looking back. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. The day Ellie Webster decided to begin transitioning from the male body she was assigned at birth, she knew it was a leap of faith. But it was a leap […]

This transgender woman is on a lifelong journey to express her authentic self. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. It was the summer of 1964. Char Davenport, who was eight years old, was sitting with her father on the front porch. At the time, she says, she didn’t think […]

As both acceptance and animosity toward the transgender community grow, personal stories are essential to education and advocacy. This story series began, like most ideas, with a confluence of inspiration. With transgender people increasingly in the spotlight, their lives have become more visible — but not entirely visible. Many Americans only see what the public eye will allow. Celebrities like […]

Even while throwing a great party on March 20, the event co-producers still have their eyes on the ultimate goal of lived equality. It began as an LGBT wedding expo six years ago, in response to LGBT couples being turned away from wedding venues that disapproved of same-sex marriage. Following the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, […]

Citing a lack of adequate funding, Fair Michigan, a coalition of groups and individuals headed up by civil rights attorney Dana Nessel and that included noted Republicans like Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Gov. Snyder’s former press secretary Sara Wurfel, and Lansing attorney and political mover-and-shaker Richard McClellan, has ended its attempt to put the civil rights of LGBTQ […]