This weekend tens of thousands of people from all over metro Detroit will throng Ferndale for Pride Fest, which has been celebrated, in one fashion or another, for 35 years in this area. It’s a notable anniversary, a measure of how a movement that numbered in the mere hundreds of activists nationwide in the early ’60s has exploded. Closet doors have been shaken open, and we’re all the richer for it. In this first Pride Issue of Metro Times we look at some of those changes — and the resistance to them. In addition to freelancer Wendy Case’s brief history of the LGBT community in metro Detroit, we examine legal hurdles faced by the community, a new book on bisexuality, gay themes from the stage to screen, and more. —W. Kim Heron

Affirming Ferndale
by Wendy Case
How a once-faltering suburb became a hub for gay community

A gay issue?
by Sandra Svoboda
Proponents say children should be the focus in second-parent adoption

Bisexual healing
by Jessica Clark
Oh, the messiness of personal discovery

Proud plans
When and where to be out there