In honor of LGBT History Month, join this conversation about gay life and activism in 1950s Detroit. Jerry “Jai” Moore, the remaining officer from the Detroit Area Council of the Mattachine Society (1958-1960), shares memories of his involvement in gay activism at that time. Tim Retzloff joins the conversation and U-M professor Gayle Rubin offers some remarks.
Mattachine bravely offered a sanctuary for gay and lesbian Detroiters who sought to organize — at a time when homosexuals were arrested as criminals, institutionalized as psychopaths, and ostracized as sinners. Mattachine members paved the way for sweeping social change over the next half century.
The Detroit Mattachine records are part of the Joseph A. Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan Library.