Get Your Detroit Queer History Straight: LGBTQ History Walking Tour

Preservation Detroit's 50th Anniversary Lecture Series

Join Preservation Detroit with special guest speaker, local historian, and tour guide Michael Boettcher in "Get Your Detroit Queer History Straight," a hands-on exploration of Detroit's rich and largely untold LGBTQ history! Commemorate Queer History Month through a Downtown walking tour of some of the earliest sites associated with Detroit's LGBTQ community, starting in the 1930s.

From the groundbreaking Club Frontenac, which opened in 1936 as the city's first gay bar, to the vibrant Palmer Park "gayborhood" of the 1960s, Boettcher traces the evolution of Detroit's queer community through decades of triumph and adversity. The tour examines how Detroit once boasted dozens of gay bars and a thriving LGBTQ district. Boettcher's tour not only celebrates the city's pioneering LGBTQ heritage but also connects this history to contemporary efforts to revitalize Detroit's queer community.

THIS IS A WALKING TOUR. All guests should be prepared to walk, sometimes on surfaces under construction, for more than two hours.

All tours take place rain or shine and are about 2 to 2.5 hours long. Please arrive 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Advance ticket purchases are available through the afternoon before the tour. Tickets may be refunded up to 7 days prior to the date of a tour; after that, tickets are not refundable.

By purchasing ticket(s), I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms outlined in the following liability release: https://preservationdetroit.org/liabilityrelease

Meeting spot: The tour departs from and returns to the Guardian Building Promenade. To navigate to this spot, the Guardian Building's address may be used: 500 Griswold St, Detroit, MI 48226. Please meet your guide on the sidewalk.

Parking: Metered street parking is available in the immediate area. Paid parking is also available at the Buhl Parking Garage, across the street at 525 Griswold St, Detroit, MI 48226.