Title
TBLGQ Pride Month proclamation for June 2017
Memorandum
PROCLAMATION
TBLGQ Pride Month
June 19, 2017
WHEREAS, In June of each year, the transgender, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer (TBLGQ) and ally community celebrate Pride Month. June was originally chosen to commemorate the Stonewall riots that occurred in June of 1969; and
WHEREAS, In April of 1970, Ann Arbor resident and local TBLGQ icon, Jim Toy, became the first publicly out gay man in the state of Michigan, and has since worked tirelessly to create a safe and supportive community for future generations of gay and lesbian citizens; and
WHEREAS, In 1971, Ann Arbor became home to the first university office in the world devoted to concerns of sexual orientation: the Human Sexuality Office, now known as the University of Michigan Spectrum Center; and
WHEREAS, In 1972, Ann Arbor adopted its first official "Lesbian-Gay Pride Week Proclamation," the first such proclamation adopted by a governing body in the United States; and
WHEREAS, In the early 1970s, Ann Arbor City Council Members Nancy Wechsler and Jerry DeGrieck came out as a lesbian and a gay man, making them the first openly TBLGQ public-office holders in the United States; and
WHEREAS, In 1974, Kathy Kozachenko, an Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan student, became the first openly-TBLGQ individual elected to hold public office anywhere in the United States after winning a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council; and
WHEREAS, Despite local non-discrimination protections, there remain no state or federal anti-discrimination laws to protect TBLGQ individuals from being fired, denied housing or refused service; and
WHEREAS, In the wake of an increasingly polarized political climate and continued violence against TBLGQ individuals, especially those at the intersection of multiple oppressions, we must remain true to Ann Arbor values by striving to ensure that our city is an inclusive community, where people of diverse sexual orientation a...
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