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From 1997 through 2002, the LGBTQ community in Ypsilanti fought for their rights in the form of a Non-Discrimination Ordinance for the City of Ypsilanti. The result of this struggle was one of the first Non-Discrimination Ordinances in Michigan, with protections for LGBTQ Ypsilantians.
In 2019, Ypsilanti teenager Miriam Berman Stidd interviewed campaign veterans, and Normal Park neighbors, Lisa Bashert, Beth Bashert, and Lisa Zuber, for a podcast project in her communications class at Washtenaw International High School.
Now, Ypsi Stories hostess Shoshanna worked with Stidd to unearth her podcast episode, which we are airing in its entirety. The episode is followed by a 2023 conversation with Stidd and Lisa and Beth Bashert, facillitated by Shoshanna, about the original episode and about changes felt between 2019 and 2023 as members of the LGBTQ community in Ypsilanti.
More about our speakers
Miriam Berman Stidd
Miriam Berman Stidd has lived in Ypsilanti her whole life, almost 19 years. She graduated from Washtenaw International High School in the spring of 2022, is currently taking a gap year, and will be attending Brandeis University in the fall of 2023. She loves to read about history and learn about the world around her. She is a lesbian and feels lucky to have grown up in Ypsilanti’s LGBTQ community.
Lisa Bashert
Lisa Bashert lives and works in Ypsilanti where she is involved with all things sustainable. She is a co-founder of Co-op Orchard of Ypsilanti (CORY), Transition Ypsi, Women With Wings West, and the Ypsi Growers Co-op; she gardens with the Recreation Park Community Garden; and, as a beekeeper and marketing coordinator for the Ypsi Food Co-op, she founded the Local Honey Project. She has been an organizer with the Poor People’s Campaign and statewide water protection efforts to #ShutDownLine5. Her home includes a root cellar, raised bed and edible landscaping, water collection systems, permaculture-inspired urban farming, a 3.1 kW solar array, zero-waste solutions, and much more. Lisa is retired from paid work but fights on for all beings!
Beth Bashert
Beth Bashert is a lifetime lesbian and has been an out LGBTQ activist since 1990. Beth sat on the Boards of Michigan Pride, OutLoud Chorus, and Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project (now the Jim Toy Community Center), before becoming politically active as the co-chair of the 1998 & 2002 campaigns for an inclusive Non-Discrimination Ordinance (NDO) for Ypsilanti. Beth was the founding president of Michigan Equality (now Equality Michigan). She was the chair for several political campaigns and ballot initiatives including Keep Ypsi Rolling, Save Ypsi YES!, and Save Our Land Save Our Future. Beth & Lisa were the first lesbian couple to publish an engagement announcement in the Ann Arbor News in 1993, as well as the first lesbian couple legally married in the city of Ypsilanti in 2014. Beth served as Mayor of Ypsilanti as well as on Ypsilanti’s City Council for Ward 2. She is currently enjoying her grandkids and working for LaFontaine Buick in Ann Arbor.Lisa Zuber
Lisa Zuber has lived in Ypsilanti for over 30 years. She started working in the LGBTQ community as an ally, working with PFLAG Ann Arbor, when her cousin was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1991, during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Lisa was serving on the board of PFLAG Ann Arbor when City Printing first refused to print the Tri Pride ticket, which was the beginning of the movement for non-discrimination in Ypsilanti. She spoke as a member of PFLAG Ann Arbor at the first public meeting of the Ypsilanti City Council regarding discrimination against LGBTQ people in Ypsilanti. Lisa has since worked on numerous campaigns, including serving as the co-chair with Beth Bashert in the 2002 Ypsilanti Campaign for Equality, Paul Schreiber for Mayor of Ypsilanti, and Lynn Rivers for Congresswoman. Former Ypsilanti City Councilman John Gallis and Lisa Zuber married in 2001 on the anniversary of the first vote for the Non-Discrimination Ordinance, May 5, 1998. Lisa and John live with their son in Normal Park, Ypsilanti. Her first campaign was a life changing event for her.
The Congressional Record from Rep. Debbie Dingell honoring the 20th anniversary of the Ypsilanti Campaign for Equality.
“Vote no on discrimination. Vote no on C.” campaign badge.
Learn more about the Proposal and response
Click on the images below to see the timeline for non-discrimination in Ypsilanti, public support for the ordinance, and more.
The Non-Discrimination Proposal and Timeline of Events:
Ticket and transcript of call between TriPride and the Hansens:
Organizational support for LGBTQ+ equality in Ypsi:
Local support for Non-Discrimination Ordinance
