LGBTQ

Today on Stateside, what the national opioid settlement could mean for Michigan. Also, the founding of Detroit’s long-lived and well-loved Black LGBTQ Pride event, Hotter Than July. Plus, Matthew Milia’s new record, delivers lovely, if angsty odes to summer in Keego Harbor.

With a global pandemic, major social movements, and crucial political events all occurring within the past year, finding reasons to laugh has been challenging. After a year of empty venues, comedians are eager to return to the stage. 

Today on Stateside, changes to auto insurance's medical care funding formula are happening in Michigan. Critics fear many catastrophic car crash victims will end up in nursing homes at taxpayers' expense. Next up, we are re-airing a year of homeschooling and self-determination for Black families as they make their decisions to keep their children homeschooled or prepare them for traditional school. The second re-air is a conversation with a Detroit based LGBTQ muralist. Lastly, an Ypsilanti youth choir's pandemic journey to create innovative ways to sing together.

Today on Stateside, Republicans in the Legislature advance bills to change election law in Michigan, one day after saying there was no fraud in the 2020 election. Then, how gay nightclubs and bars in Michigan gave rise to a vibrant drag culture. And, a movie studio in Lansing aims to open with high hopes of bringing the film industry, and talent, back to Michigan.  

Murals by Bakpak Durden that glaze through the streets of Russell, Brush, and Hazelwood -- covering a Detroit vs. Everybody store, the Brush Street Viaduct, and LGBT Detroit -- have illuminated the city.

A self-taught interdisciplinary artist, Durden began their work years ago, making small pieces out of items found around the house and selling them to the two people who loved them most.

Today on Stateside, the son of longtime University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler went on record to say that he, too, was abused by former UM doctor Robert Anderson. Also, a review of this week’s big auto industry reveal: Ford’s new hybrid mini-truck. Plus, one art fan’s collection, and the personal statement it reflects about gay identity.

Today on Stateside, a look at where Michigan stands with COVID-19 infections, vaccinations, and power machinations. Also, an exploration of writer Ernest Hemingway’s summers in northern Michigan. Plus, a West Michigan musician discusses how performance and therapy intersect in her work, and how her creative life has changed amid the pandemic.

The strangeness and beauty of bodies and how we live in them is a theme that weaves itself throughout poet Petra Kuppers’ work. These are intensely personal interests for Kuppers. She’s a University of Michigan professor who lectures on writing, disability culture, and queer culture. Kuppers uses a wheelchair and lives with chronic pain. And she says the process of poetry— observing and distilling her experiences through writing— is a healing one. 

Today on Stateside, a major Michigan-based adoption agency is opening up adoption to LGBTQ parents. We spoke with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who has spent years fighting for LGBTQ families. Plus, a conversation with artist Elizabeth Youngblood about how learning to weave inspired the delicate lines of her sculptures and drawings. 

Today on Stateside, COVID has turned life upside down for many people. For homeless LGBTQ youth, their lives were already in a state of crisis. We speak with two people at the Ruth Ellis Center about what life looks like for these youths right now. Plus, Detroit extended its water shutoff moratorium until 2023. What that will mean for residents and the city.

Today on Stateside, we’re checking in with the owner of a gym and personal training facility to see how he’s approaching reopening in light of an appeals court decision upholding Governor Whitmer’s order to keep gyms closed to limit the spread of COVID-19 yesterday. Also, a conversation with Jim Toy, who has been at the forefront of the fight for LGBTQ rights in Michigan for more than five decades.

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This year’s Pride Month celebrations coincided with a major victory for the LGBTQ community. The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled that workplace protections outlined in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to gay and transgender people. 

The ruling comes after decades of work by activists in Michigan and elsewhere to expand legal rights and protections for the LGBTQ community. One of those activists is Jim Toy. 

A petition campaign to add LGBTQ protections to Michigan’s civil rights law is deciding its next steps.

That’s after a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday that LGBTQ rights are already guaranteed by federal law.

Like most things during this pandemic, Pride Month is looking a little different this year. Many of the normal gatherings and celebrations have been cancelled. Meanwhile, protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd continue to spread across the nation. Amid the unrest and uncertainty, some activists see this Pride Month as particularly poignant. Stateside spoke with Erin Knott, executive director at Equality Michigan, and Selma Tucker with Public Sector Consultants in Lansing about the connections between the fight for LGBTQ rights and the fight for racial justice. 

Today on Stateside, less driving statewide during the COVID-19 pandemic means insurance companies need to distribute refunds. We find out about what this means for drivers, as well as how they’ll be affected by upcoming changes to the state’s no-fault law. Also, a look at how the history of LGBTQ Pride and the Black Lives Matter movement intersect. Plus, social media’s relationship to social change.

Today on Stateside, a federal judge has invalidated Michigan's Medicaid work requirements. Republican leaders in the state Legislature are already pushing back. What does this mean for the more than 200,000 people in the state subject to those requirements? Plus, we'll talk about how the Democratic candidates for president stack up when it comes to addressing the concerns of black voters.