James W. Toy Collection
Browse items in the James W. Toy collection
Jim Toy is widely regarded as being the first man in the United States to publicly “out” himself. It was at an anti-Vietnam war rally in Detroit, Michigan, on April 15, 1970, an event covered by multiple national newspapers. He relates the experience: “I get up there and I speak out against the war. What moved me to do it, I do not know. I said: ‘My name is Jim Toy, I’m 40 years old, and I’m a gay man.’”[1] In 1971 the University of Michigan created the Human Sexuality Office, headed by James Toy and Cynthia Gair, the office that is now called the Spectrum Center. As an office to advocate for the concerns of gay and lesbian students, it was the first office of its kind in the United States.[2]
Toy is a well-known public figure in Ann Arbor; he makes an appearance every year at Ann Arbor Pride, and his birthday party is a public event. An organization serving the Ann Arbor LGBTQ community is named after him: The Jim Toy Community Center. We feel he deserves more scholarly attention. In 1996, the Bentley Historical Library began to acquire his papers. No books have yet been written about him, and very little about him can be found online, presumably because he’s what might be considered a minor character in the larger national play. Toy doesn’t have the celebrity stature of Larry Kramer, for example, but he has been referred to as Ann Arbor’s own Harvey Milk.[3] Among other things, we hope this site will help make him more widely known.
References
- 1 Bruckner, Meredith. “A Chat with Activist, Gay Rights Champion Jim Toy: On Discovering His Identity and What
Continues to Drive His Activism.” Clickondetroit.com, 8 Nov. 2017, 9:26 am, www.clickondetroit.com/all-
about-ann-arbor/2017/11/08/a-chat-with-activist-gay-rights-champion-jim-toy/ - Powers, TE, Erlich, R. (1996-1997). James W. Toy Papers, 1963-2007: Finding Aid.
- Michael, J. A. (2017, Apr 27). Jim toy turns 87, reflects on a lifetime of activism. Between the
Lines, 9.