AADL offers an array of events and activities year-round that celebrate our LGBTQ+ community, but in recognition of Pride Month in June and Ann Arbor Pride in August, AADL is listing a ton of in-person events, online recordings, exhibits, web features, and so much more. Stay tuned as we add to this list as the summer goes on!
In-Person Events for June 2025
Thursday, June 5 | 6 - 7 PM | Downtown Library
The State of Equality with Naomi Goldberg
State of Pride in 2025: Where Are We With LGBTQ Equality? 2025 has brought many changes in the rights of LGBTQ people, especially for transgender and nonbinary people. From Michigan working to advance protections to massive rollbacks at the federal level, join Naomi Goldberg, executive director of a think tank focused on speeding equality for LGBTQ people, to learn more about the state of LGBTQ equality here in Michigan and nationally. Learn more about what's happening and what may be coming next.
Saturday, June 7 | 3 - 4 PM | Downtown Library
Drag Bingo
Join Drag Queen extraordinaire Jadein Black for a fantastic session of BINGO with music, prizes, and lots of fun! All are welcome.
Thursday, June 12 | 3 - 4 PM | Malletts Creek Branch
Pride Salt Painting
Join us for an afternoon of technicolor, bombastic salt painting. You'll use glue, salt, and watercolors to create an eye-catching piece of art!
Sunday, June 22 | 3 - 4 PM | Downtown Library
Author Event | Drag is Love
Join Dan Clay, author of Becoming a Queen, for an author talk and discussion of how drag can be a force for joy, connection, healing, and love. He'll share excerpts from his book and also stories from his own drag journey becoming "Carrie Dragshaw."
This event includes a signing with books for sale.
Saturday, June 28 | 1 - 4 PM | Downtown Library
Relief Printing with Anishinaabe Artist Jamie John
">Learn some basic and unique block printing and relief printing techniques in this workshop led by Jamie John, a multi-disciplinary Anishinaabe and Korean-American artist. Jamie John will demonstrate how to carve a block and you'll have an opportunity to carve your own to create a relief printed bandana or tote.
The Big Gay Read
In its third year, The Big Gay Read features a title chosen by AADL staff that the whole city can read, accompanied with events pertaining to the work's themes, and highlighted by an event featuring the author themselves.
The 2025 Big Gay Read is Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. Learn all about The Big Gay Read and check out a full slate of events scheduled for July here!
The Gayest Generation | An AADL Podcast
Through heartfelt interviews and personal stories, The Gayest Generation steps into the colorful history of LGBTQ+ activism and resilience, shining a light on the remarkable contributions of LGBTQ+ elders and the progress made over the decades. Whether you're a member of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally seeking to deepen your understanding, The Gayest Generation is a tribute to the past, present, and future of queer resilience and activism.
Subscribe and download new episodes all year long!
AADL Trans Day of Visibility Zine
Since 2020, AADL has created a community-produced zine to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility. You can view and download past zines here.
30 Days of Pride
Get inspired with quotes, poems, crafts, and more!
See the whole series here!
Teen Pride Book Talk
In the AADL YouTube series, Lucy recommends LGBTQ+ focused books for teens. Dig into 73 episodes of Teen Pride Book Talk featuring authors like Adib Khorram, Anna Kopp, James Ramos, Madeline Dyer, and Saundra Mitchell.
A Selection of Past AADL Events
Come Out! In Detroit: Telling the Story of Michigan's First LGBTQ+ Pride
A conversation with illustrator Isabel Clare Paul and historian Tim Retzloff, who teamed up to create the comic “Come Out! In Detroit,” in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Christopher Street Detroit ’72, the first LGBTQ+ pride celebration in Michigan. Free copies of the comic book will be available for all who attend.
George M. Johnson: Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known
George M. Johnson comes to AADL to discuss their new book Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known. In Flamboyants, Johnson celebrates writers, performers, and activists from 1920s Black America whose sexualities have been obscured throughout history. Through 14 essays, Johnson reveals how American culture has been shaped by icons who are both Black and Queer – and whose stories deserve to be celebrated in their entirety.
Nico Lang: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era
For their groundbreaking new book, journalist Nico Lang spent a year traveling the country to document the lives of transgender, nonbinary, and genderfluid teens and their families. Drawing on hundreds of hours of on-the-ground interviews with them and the people in their communities, American Teenager paints a vivid portrait of what it’s actually like to grow up trans today.
Drag King Revue
AADL welcomes local Drag Kings for a night of performance, featuring a panel discussion about the art form, drag king culture, and queer celebration.
Transgender Day of Visibility 2025: An Interview with Rachel Crandall-Crocker
Join us for our five year anniversary of Transgender Day of Visibility events at the AADL! We'll be interviewing therapist, advocate and pioneer Rachel Crandall-Crocker. Rachel and her spouse, Sarah Crocker, have been long-time organizers of the trans community, under the organization Transgender Michigan.
Rachel started the Transgender Day of Visibility as an international holiday to contrast with Transgender Day of Remembrance — together we'll discuss community, history, and the ever-increasing scrutiny that trans lives have received in recent times.
Author Event | Queer Nature
A conversation with the editor and three contributors to Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology. Poets Tamiko Beyer, Joy Ladin, Amber Flora Thomas, and Michael Walsh will discuss the role of "nature" in queer and trans lives and in poetry. What is queer nature? Who gets to be natural or unnatural and why? How queer or trans is the earth's flora and fauna? Does straight nature exist and could it be a false myth? Who gets to belong in a land or to a place and how do people do so without colonizing? How weird can a nature poem get?
The Big Gay Read 2024 Author Event | Samantha Irby
Get ready! Samantha Irby is coming to AADL as part of the Big Gay Read! Join us for a talk and Q&A!
Big Gay Read 2023 | Spaces For Us
A panel discussion looking back at the history and importance of LGBTQ+ spaces in Ann Arbor. Speakers include historian Tim Retzloff, the former owners of the Aut Bar, Keith Orr and Martin Contreras, and one of the original owners of Common Language bookstore, Lynden Kelly.
What Makes a Work of Art Queer?
A conversation with Sean Kramer about Oh Honey…A Queer Reading of the Collection, UMMA’s first exhibition of queer art. But what makes art queer in the first place? And how does one go about curating a queer art exhibition? What does it mean for our community to engage with queer art?
Politicizing and Queering Game Mechanics with Avery Alder
Game designer Avery Alder opens this talk with a question: Whose politics and experiences are we building our games around? After examining the importance of queer representation in games, this keynote will take a critical look at why representation isn’t enough. From there, Avery will explore how game mechanics and systems can be queered, subverting common structural assumptions in order to reflect a greater range of lived experiences. Examples will be drawn from the past two decades of independent tabletop roleplaying game design.
A2CAF: Small + Indie Press Queer Comic Creators Panel
LGBTQ+ representation has evolved over the years as artists have increasingly felt more comfortable sharing their stories with audiences. Local comics creators Anne Haddox (SQUiRT, CRUSH), Emma Jayne (LSBN, Trans Girls Hit the Town), and Nick Stellanova (The Dazzle) will discuss their creative process and queer representation in comics. This panel will be moderated by Connor Good (Karmada Arts and author of Epic Cosplay Costumes).