An archival history of the early political organizing efforts by the Grand Rapids LGBTQ community – Part II

In Part I, I looked at the people from Grand Rapids who went to the LGBT march on Washington in 1987, how that was a catalyst for the creation of the Lesbian and Gay Community Network of Western Michigan. I also looked at archival records to show that one of the first priorities of The Network, was to organize a Pride Celebration in Grand Rapids.

In today’s post, I will explore the documented correspondence between The Network and the Mayor of Grand Rapids regarding the first years of the Pride Celebration in Grand Rapids and why the Mayor did not support the celebration. 

As you can see from the Grand Rapids Press front page headline, Mayor Helmholt refused to endorse the first ever Pride Celebration in Grand Rapids or write a proclamation for the event. 

Undeterred, The Network sent Mayor Helmholt a letter in March of 1989, asking if he would support the 2nd Annual Pride Celebration in Grand Rapids with a proclamation. Mayor Helmholt responded in a letter, stating that his position had not changed and in fact was affirmed by the letters and phone calls he received supporting his decision.

The President of The Network, Bryan Ribbens, sent another letter to Helmholt in early June of 1989, which talked about Pride 1989 as being the 20th anniversary of Stonewall and why it was so important to have the City’s support for such a celebration.

Members of The Network also attended a City Commission meeting on June 6, 1989, asking for the proclamation. The Network Newsletter documented that event and cited several members who spoke during the commission meeting. Network members reminded the Mayor that this was the then 20^th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and that Gay and Lesbians deserved equal rights and recognition. Rev. Bruce Roller responded to Helmholt’s denial for a Mayor Proclamation by saying, “I’m real angry and real tired of having our God’s name used to oppress lesbians and gays.”

In that same issue of the Network News the group pointed out that Mayor Helmholt had granted at least 119 proclamations since the group’s first request in 1988. Among the groups/events that Helmholt wrote proclamations for were: Michigan Beverage News Week, Family Sexuality Education Month, Polish Heritage Month, National Roofing Week and Bozo Show Day. 

Since Mayor Helmholt refused to make a proclamation in support of a Grand Rapids Pride Celebration, The Network crafted their own and read it during Pride 1989.

One interesting outcome of The Network’s efforts to challenge Mayor Helmholt to fully support a Pride Celebration in Grand Rapids, was a letter that the Mayor of Holland, Michigan sent to The Network supporting their decision to have a Pride Celebration, stating that this was a fight for civil rights, which he supported.  The kind of support offered by the Mayor of Holland also included a list of supporters, which was archived in this document from The Network.

Lastly, it is worth noting that because the members of The Network were so well organized, they forced Grand Rapids City officials and residents to accept not only future Pride Celebrations, but the fundamental rights that those in the LGBTQ community deserved.

(Above GR Press article was from June 18. 1989, featuring comments from Bryan Ribbens, Jeff Swanson and Holly VanScoy.)

In Part III, I will look at the effort to get the City of Grand Rapids to expand their anti-discrimination ordinance to finally include sexual orientation as something that could not be matter of discriminated.