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Description

In 2021, Eastern Michigan University Archives lecturer Matt Jones began documenting the story of Ypsilanti’s Human Rights Ordinance #1279 in an effort to explore the ways in which local queer activism has evolved multi-generationally in Ypsilanti. What began as a refusal of service by a local print shop to a small EMU student group quickly turned into a years-long battle over who was deserving of basic human rights. To the LGBTQ activists and community members documented here, they had always been present in the community: working, paying taxes, painting their houses, mowing their lawns, attending council meetings, and even serving on council. This ordinance battle was about more than just LGBT rights—it was about protecting the human rights of all Ypsilantians. On January 18, 2022, Jones talked to community organizer and American Friends Service Committee staff member, Jan Wright. After she became a Quaker in graduate school, Wright spent some time living with fellow Quakers in Ann Arbor, and volunteering for the American Friends Service Committee. She eventually became the local AFSC's LGBT Issues Program Director. Wright and her AFSC colleagues hosted community workshops where people could learn to hold non-hostile communication with LGBT/opposing groups. As both ordinance campaigns utilized the workshops, Wright became more entwined in the cause, and found it necessary to support it. Her work with other community members, activists, and organizers left her with meaningful connections, which she reflects on in this interview. Wright also covers the importance of including the Black community in the ordinance, and working closely with religious groups to increase visibility and support through it all.

Interview Date

1-18-2022

Keywords

Eastern Michigan University Archives, EMU Oral History Program, Opening Hearts and Minds, Citizens for Community, Ypsi Campaign for Equality, American Friends Service Committee, LGBT activism, Ypsilanti, Ypsi, community orgs, local activism, AFSC, Quakers, PFLAG, Jim Toy, Kathleen Russell, religion, Methodist Churches, Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project, WRAP, community care, social justice, nondiscrimination ordinance

Permission to Use

Permission to quote from this oral history should be requested from the University Archives (lib_archives@emich.edu).

Streaming Media

Jan Wright, Oral History Interview, 2022

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