The Ann Arbor District Library’s LGBTQ+ Walking Tour documents historical locations important to the queer community, pulling from interviews with community members in podcasts like AADL’S Gayest Generation, LGBTQ+ Washtenaw oral histories, and other archival collections. We heard from community members about their favorite hangouts over the decades, including bars, bookstores, and sites of political advancement for LGBTQ+ rights. This tour walks you through important locations, some of which have changed over the years and may no longer exist. As you visit each stop, consider the history made there, the activism and community building taking place in Ann Arbor today, and what you’d like our future to become.
#1 Human Sexuality Office, University of Michigan
325 Michigan Union | 530 S. State St.
Founded in 1971, the Human Sexuality Office (now known as Spectrum Center) was the first office of its kind in the United States. Jim Toy and Cynthia Gair were hired as the first employees at the center, which continued to expand its mission over the years to welcome the LGBTQ+ community and advocate for civil rights on campus and beyond.
#2 Nectarine Ballroom
516 E. Liberty St.
Today, we know it as NECTO. When it opened in 1984, it was The Nectarine Ballroom: a big-city style nightclub with multiple dance floors, celebrity performers, and—at its height—three queer nights a week.
#3 Common Language Bookstore
215 S. Fourth Ave.
Common Language Bookstore was a feminist, LGBTQ+ bookstore founded in 1990 by Lynden Kelly and Kate Burkhardt. Visitors could drop in to browse the shelves and learn all about LGBTQ+ social life in the city. The bookstore moved to Braun Court from 2003 to 2018.
#4 The Flame
115 W. Washington St.
The Flame was a dive bar in the truest sense. From the 1960s through the 1990s, it acted as a refuge for queer people living in and visiting Ann Arbor. It will be remembered for its debauchery and raucousness.
#5 The Rubaiyat
102 S. First St.
The Rubaiyat, which first opened in 1960, was a restaurant-turned-disco-club that became THE place for lesbians to meet, dance, and socialize in the 1970s and 1980s. It was also known for hosting drag nights and the Miss Ann Arbor pageant.
#6 The Town Bar
214 E. Huron St.
The Town Bar was first purchased in 1958 by Norman Goetz, and relocated to 112 W. Washington Street in 1964. Norman and his partner Raymond Devereaux operated the bar together until 1970, when the couple’s gay clientele moved right across the street to The Flame.
#7 Kathy Kozachenko Statue
301 E. Huron St.
Ann Arbor’s City Hall was the site of several “firsts” for the queer community. Jerry DeGrieck and Nancy Wechsler were the first politicians to come out while in office in 1972. Two years later, Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay person elected to public office in the United States. Plans were announced to build a statue commemorating her as part of the city’s bicentennial in 2024.
#8 Womanspace
211 ½ N. Fourth Ave.
Step back into the 1970s and up a flight of stairs to imagine a space where members of a lesbian feminist collective published The Leaping Lesbian magazine and ran a small bookstore, art gallery, and the Women’s Crisis Center. Staffed by volunteers, Womanspace operated between 1975 and 1985.
#9 Braun Court
313–327 Braun Ct.
Braun Court, located across from the Farmers Market on N. Fourth Avenue, was a beloved gathering spot for Ann Arbor’s LGBTQ+ community. \aut\ Bar, owned by Keith Orr and Martin Contreras, opened there in 1995 and other small businesses and organizations moved in next door, including Common Language Bookstore, the Jim Toy Community Center, and Trillium Real Estate. The courtyard was the site of many impromptu gatherings, including a celebration for the Supreme Court decision overturning Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban on June 26, 2015, and a memorial for the Pulse Nightclub shooting a year later.
