Storm Does Not Stop the Sea of Rainbows of Ferndale Pride

Storm Does Not Stop the Sea of Rainbows of Ferndale Pride (Olivia Hughes, Crystal Proxmire, June 8, 2019) Ferndale, MI – Ferndale’s ninth annual Pride Festival was held June 1st, celebrating the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Ally community (LGBTQIA+). Rainbows were everywhere – from flags, to clothes, to hair. As the festival…

Mom Spreading Love Seeks Volunteers for Free Hug Booth at Ferndale Pride Festival

Mom Spreading Love Seeks Volunteers for Free Hug Booth at Ferndale Pride Festival (Lara Mossa, April 23, 2019) UPDATE: Volunteer hug positions filled up quickly after being announced, but there are many other volunteer opportunities available. More info is available at www.ferndalepride.com FERNDALE, MI – Not everyone feels accepted by friends and family when they…

Huntington Woods Rallies to Shield Drag Queen Story Time Visitors

Huntington Woods Rallies to Shield Drag Queen Story Time Visitors (Crystal A. Proxmire, Jan. 26, 2019) Huntington Woods, As toddlers and parents arrived to the Huntington Woods Library Drag Queen Story Time they walked down a pathway lined with the supportive smiles and signs of nearly 300 people who showed up to shield them from…

Drag Queen Story Time Supporters Pack Huntington Woods Meeting

Drag Queen Story Time Supporters Pack Huntington Woods Meeting (Crystal A. Proxmire, Dec. 19, 2018) Huntington Woods, MI – Over 150 residents and supporters packed the gymnasium of the Gillham Recreation Center for Tuesday night’s Huntington Woods City Commission meeting after news broke over a California-based organization’s intent to protest the Drag Queen Story Time…

Good Neighbors Honored in Ferndale

  Good Neighbors Honored in Ferndale (Crystal A. Proxmire, Nov. 14, 2018) Ferndale, MI – “While the climate created by national politics divides people, Ferndale comes together,” said Ferndale School Board President Jackie Hart at Tuesday night’s Citizens for Fair Ferndale Good Neighbor Awards.  “Our lives are like a knot,” she said. “the harder you…

HRC Gives Ferndale, Detroit Perfect Scores for LGBTQ Equality

  HRC Gives Ferndale, Detroit Perfect Scores for LGBTQ Equality (Crystal A. Proxmire, Oct. 15, 2018) Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, MI – The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Equality Federation Institute team up each year to rate municipalities in terms of LGBTQ inclusivity and measures of equality. This year Ferndale joined the ranks of those…

Melania Trump & Betsy DeVos Encourage Lunchtime Inclusion…

Melania Trump & Betsy DeVos Encourage Lunchtime Inclusion at Orchard Lake Middle School (Cheryl Weiss, Oct. 23, 2017) West Bloomfield, MI – “Being at lunch was the coolest experience ever!” said Bryce Hairston, an eighth grade student at Orchard Lake Middle School in West Bloomfield, where First Lady Melania Trump and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy…

Murder Victim’s Family Accepts $1.07 Million Settlement from Oakland County

Murder Victim’s Family Accepts $1.07 Million Settlement from Oakland County (Crystal A. Proxmire, Oct. 11, 2017)   Madison Heights, MI – A lawsuit brought by the family of Shelley Hilliard against Oakland County has ended with a $1.07 million settlement.  19-year-old Hilliard was murdered after a Madison Heights police officer revealed that she was the…

It’s Not Just About the Suit: Sex Discrimination Case Arguments Heard in Court of Appeals

It’s Not Just About the Suit: Sex Discrimination Case Arguments Heard in Court of Appeals (Crystal A. Proxmire, Oct. 6, 2017) CINCINNATI, OHIO – Justice Helene White of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals questioned attorney Douglas G. Wardlow on Wednesday during his oral argument on behalf of R.G. &. G.R. Harris Funeral Homes who…

Ferndale​ ​Pride​ ​sets​ ​record​ ​with​ ​$25,000​ ​in​ ​grants​ ​to​ ​local​ ​LGBTQ​ ​charities

Ferndale​ ​Pride​ ​sets​ ​record​ ​with​ ​$25,000​ ​in​ ​grants​ ​to​ ​local​ ​LGBTQ​ ​charities   FERNDALE, Mich. – Ferndale Pride distributed $25,000 in grants – the most funding it ever has distributed in a single year – to five local LGBTQ charities Monday, Aug. 28, at the Ferndale City Council meeting.   The Ferndale Community Foundation, Ferndale Pride’s sponsoring…

Wayne State Awarded Three Year Suicide Prevention Grant

Wayne State Awarded Three Year Suicide Prevention Grant (WSU, June 20, 2017) Detroit, MI – Wayne State University has been awarded a three-year, Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant worth $305,354. The grant will be used for WSU’s Suicide Prevention Initiative that seeks to develop an infrastructure of education, training and dissemination of suicide…

Wayne State Awarded Three Year Suicide Prevention Grant

Wayne State Awarded Three Year Suicide Prevention Grant (WSU, June 20, 2017) Detroit, MI – Wayne State University has been awarded a three-year, Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant worth $305,354. The grant will be used for WSU’s Suicide Prevention Initiative that seeks to develop an infrastructure of education, training and dissemination of suicide…

Rochester Area Residents Learn about LGBTQ Rights at GRAIN Panel Discussion

Rochester Area Residents Learn about LGBTQ Rights at GRAIN Panel Discussion (Crystal A. Proxmire, May 12, 2017) Rochester Hills, MI – Nearly 100 people from the Greater Rochester Area gathered Thursday night to learn about the lack of civil rights protection for LGBTQ people and to hear what options might be available for making their…