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Michigan Live '85
This cassette was recorded live at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and reflects how women's music has been used to forge community among…
Melva Earhart and State Bar Patrons
At the time of this photo, the State Bar was still considered mixed, serving both straight and gay patrons. Wait staff seated customers they perceived…
Living Legends Night at Gigi's
Some of Detroit's legendary female impersonators, including Jennifer Foxx and Nikki Stevens, shared the stage at this 1994 performance.
Lev Raphael
Originally from New York, Raphael moved to Michigan in the early 1980s to attend Michigan State University. He was last reported to be living with his…
Janet Rauch
Janet Rauch and Deborah McCormick were founding mothers of the weekly women's music program "Face the Music" on public station WFBE-FM in Flint.…
Flyer for Hot Cops 3
Centaur Films
A one-time dancer at the Gold Coast in Detroit, Steve O'Donnell (lower left) migrated west and began a career in adult gay male videos. The popularity…
Hitting the Hi-Spots Magazine - 1951
Lesbian Melva Earhart purchased the State Bar in Flint in 1950 and it soon became a safe hang-out for a homosexual clientele. Its original location on…
Hi-Spots Magazine - 1967
In 1961 Melva Earhart re-opened the State Bar on W. Kearsley Street in Flint. By the late 1960s it had become almost exclusively gay, and hosted…
Go-Go Dancers at Gold Coast Saloon
With a relaxing of laws against obscenity and consequent bar raids, gay strippers became a popular mainstay at several Detroit bars. Some even…
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