Queer News In Brief: Curtis Renee Remembered, Ferndale Pride Moves to August, Whitmer Headlines HRC Dinner, Stonewall Museum Loses Funding
Plus Ann Arbor schools pause their DOJ fight, Gigi's remembers Sharon Hughes, Noah Arbit joins Jewish Democrats pressing El-Sayed, Julisa Abad's faith story and a closer look at new teen identity data
Ann Arbor's school board bought itself 90 days of breathing room in its standoff with the U.S. Department of Justice this week, while Detroit gets ready to say goodbye to two beloved community figures. Curtis Renee's celebration of life is this Sunday, and Gigi's will honor Sharon Hughes later this month. Elsewhere, Ferndale Pride has a new 2027 date, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took her family's story to the Human Rights Campaign's biggest night of the year. Got news we should know about? Email [email protected].
Ann Arbor Schools Strike 90-Day Pause With DOJ Over Trans Student Policy
The Ann Arbor Board of Education authorized a 90-day standstill agreement with the DOJ at its Oct. 7 meeting, pausing federal enforcement over a 2017 district policy that protects transgender and gender-nonconforming students. Federal officials allege the policy violates parents' rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by requiring staff to hide students' trans status, which the district denies.
The agreement follows a September letter from the DOJ giving the district 14 days to rescind or revise the policy or face a lawsuit. The pause gives administrators time to review district policies while talks continue, and any changes still need board approval. Board President Torchio Feaster said the safety of trans and gender-nonconforming students remains "paramount." Richard Landau, the district's attorney for federal compliance matters, warned in August that an estimated $15 million in annual federal funding is at risk.
Read our full coverage of the standstill.
Detroit Remembers Curtis Renee, Organizer for Black and Queer Liberation
Curtis Renee, a Detroit organizer and chef who co-founded Detroit Safety Team, died in September at 44. Renee spent years helping neighbors respond to conflict and harm without calling police, and the organization they built now trains residents as safety practitioners to carry that work forward. Allied Media Projects also credits Renee with co-founding Black Lives Matter Detroit.
During the 2020 protests, Renee coordinated legal observers for the National Lawyers Guild's Detroit and Michigan chapter, which said Renee led its program "with care, love, and compassion."
Loved ones will gather for a celebration of life Sunday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Marygrove Conservancy in northwest Detroit. The event will be livestreamed, and guests are asked to RSVP. Supporters can honor Renee's legacy by donating to Detroit Safety Team.
Read our full remembrance of Renee.
Ferndale Pride Moves to August in 2027
Ferndale Pride will take place Aug. 7, 2027, after the city of Ferndale announced it will rebuild West Nine Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and Pinecrest Drive starting in the spring. The festival's original June 5 date fell inside the construction window, and the August date lets it keep its usual footprint.
Executive Director Julia Music told Pride Source that attendees can expect the same free festival on the new date. She's also urging supporters to keep shopping and dining downtown while the roadwork is underway, since many of those businesses help keep Pride free to the public.
Read more about why Ferndale Pride is moving.
Detroit's Ryan Freeland To Chair 2027 Stonewall Sports National Tournament
Stonewall Sports Detroit has named Ryan Freeland chair of the 13th annual Stonewall Sports National Tournament, which will bring thousands of LGBTQ+ athletes and allies to Detroit July 15–18, 2027. Freeland has played indoor volleyball and kickball with the chapter for more than five years and is a member of the Detroit Kick City kickball team.
The tournament rotates host cities each year. This year's edition heads to Virginia Beach Oct. 22–25, with competition in billiards, bocce, bowling, dodgeball, indoor volleyball, kickball, pickleball and sand volleyball. Stonewall Sports, founded in Washington, D.C., in 2010, now has 28 chapters in 20 states.
Whitmer Headlines HRC's National Dinner As 'a Midwest Lesbian's Mom'
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivered the keynote at the Human Rights Campaign's National Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26, introducing herself to more than 2,000 attendees as "a Midwest lesbian's mom," The Advocate reported. She shared that her oldest daughter came out to her through a college application essay.
In an interview with The Advocate hours before the dinner, Whitmer pushed back on Democrats rethinking their support for trans rights, saying she has "never wavered" on LGBTQ+ issues in a swing state. HRC pointed to her record in Michigan, including signing the 2023 expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to explicitly protect sexual orientation and gender identity and creating the state's first LGBTQ+ commission.
By the Numbers
Schools banned nearly 12,000 books in the 2025–2026 school year, and 11,405 of those bans were in Texas and Florida, according to PEN America.
Bisexual people make up 58.6% of LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S., and 16% of adults ages 18 to 29 identify as bi, according to Gallup.
The WNBA broke its all-time attendance record with 3.79 million fans at regular-season games in 2026, and the Golden State Valkyries hold the league record for average home attendance, selling out every game at 18,064 fans.
The anxiety gap between parents of trans kids and parents of cis kids more than doubled after the January 2025 inauguration, according to a Psychological Science study of 167 parents.
Noah Arbit Joins Jewish Democrats Pressing El-Sayed on Safety Demands
State Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield), who is gay and Jewish, and University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein were among 17 Michigan Democrats who joined Nonnegotiable Michigan on Sept. 29, Michigan Advance reported. The group wants Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to affirm five baseline commitments to American and Israeli Jewish safety, self-determination, statehood and political participation.
El-Sayed has been deeply critical of the U.S. military alliance with Israel over its conduct in Gaza. Attorney General Dana Nessel and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens have both endorsed him despite differences on Israel, as has Michigan Jews for Democracy, which says it represents more than 600 Jewish Democrats.
Read the full Michigan Advance story on Pride Source.
Detroit Trans Advocate Julisa Abad Shares Her Faith Story On Detroit PBS
Asked whether she feels God's presence as she helps families seek justice, Detroit trans advocate Julisa Abad answered "Every day" in a conversation with the Rev. William Danaher. The segment, which aired Oct. 2 on Detroit PBS' One Detroit, is part of Faith in Detroit, a storytelling initiative led by Christ Church Cranbrook.
Abad, the LGBT community engagement liaison for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, said her free name-change program has now helped more than 800 trans people.
"I know now that this is my mission and this is why I'm here," she said.
MiGen Opens Second Location Inside Detroit's Corktown Health
MiGen, the Michigan LGBTQ+ Elders Network, celebrated its expansion to a second location inside Corktown Health in Detroit on Oct. 7. Dr. Brandon Shamoun, co-chair of Michigan's LGBTQ+ Commission, presented a special tribute signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist recognizing the milestone.
The tribute notes that MiGen is Michigan's only community-based organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ adults 45 and older and those who love and care for them.
Remembering Sharon Hughes, Gigi's Beloved 'Purple Angel'
Sharon Hughes, mother of Detroit drag icon Nickki Stevens and a fixture at Gigi's Gay Bar for nearly 30 years, died Sept. 19 at 80. A retired charge nurse, Hughes turned hand-stoning her daughter's costumes into Purple Angel Jewelry, which she sold at the bar and at pageants. Gigi's called her "one of our community's true mothers," and many regulars called her Mom.
A celebration of life is set for Sunday, Oct. 25, 5–9 p.m., at Gigi's. Read our full remembrance of Hughes.
Researchers Urge Caution on Claims Fewer Teens Identify as Lesbian, Gay or Bi
Fewer high school students identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual in the CDC's 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, with the steepest drop among ninth-grade girls, from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025, according to an analysis by San Diego State University psychologist Jean Twenge. Among 12th graders, the share dipped just two points between 2023 and 2025, from 18% to 16%.
Conservative outlets quickly called it a "free fall," but Williams Institute scholar Jody Herman told The Washington Post the evidence so far "leaves more questions than answers." Twenge herself wrote that it's too early to say whether the shift is lasting or a blip, and the CDC's own 2025 report didn't include national sexual-identity findings, leaving the numbers to outside analysts.
Stonewall National Museum Loses County Funding After CEO Calls Out Florida's Anti-DEI Push
Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, learned Oct. 8 that Broward County had rejected its fiscal 2027 operating grant application. The notice arrived hours after President and CEO Robert Kesten used the museum's newsletter to urge local officials to challenge Florida's anti-DEI legislation rather than enforce it. According to the museum's publicist, the county said the decision didn't reflect the quality or impact of Stonewall's work but cited unspecified program, funding and policy requirements. Broward provided the museum, which bills itself as the first national LGBTQ+ museum in the U.S., $1,031,466 from January 2014 through October 2026.
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What to know at a glance
What is the Ann Arbor school district fighting with the DOJ about?
Federal officials say a 2017 Ann Arbor policy protecting transgender and gender-nonconforming students violates parents' rights under FERPA by requiring staff to hide students' trans status. The district denies that. The board approved a 90-day standstill Oct. 7, with roughly $15 million in annual federal funding at stake.
When is Curtis Renee's celebration of life?
Sunday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Marygrove Conservancy in northwest Detroit, with a livestream and RSVPs requested. Renee, a chef and organizer who co-founded Detroit Safety Team, died in September at 44. Supporters can donate to Detroit Safety Team.
Why did Ferndale Pride change its date to August?
Ferndale will rebuild West Nine Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and Pinecrest Drive starting in the spring, and the original June 5 date fell inside that construction window. The festival moves to Aug. 7, 2027, keeping its usual footprint and remaining free to attend.
What did Whitmer say at the Human Rights Campaign dinner?
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer introduced herself to more than 2,000 attendees in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 26 as "a Midwest lesbian's mom," sharing that her oldest daughter came out in a college application essay. She said she has "never wavered" on LGBTQ+ issues.
Are fewer teens identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual?
CDC survey data analyzed by psychologist Jean Twenge shows a drop, steepest among ninth-grade girls, from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025. Researchers urge caution: Williams Institute scholar Jody Herman said the evidence leaves more questions than answers, and Twenge called it too early to judge.
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