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 February 15, 2022, Jones talked with Ypsilanti City Attorney, John Barr. Barr, who still serves as City Attorney, was involved with the ordinance efforts from its early stages. With his background and position in the city, he was one of the experts chosen to help draft a nondiscrimination ordinance, which was defended in 1998 and then in 2002. Barr worked closely with city council members on the draft, deciding on what language to use, what sorts of constraints, and even what sorts of repercussions would be part of the ordinance. His knowledge of what successful ordinances looked like helped ensure that this one would succeed too. In this interview, Barr goes over the process of drafting an ordinance like this, how city councils function and change over time, and puts the whole effort in a greater context.

John Barr Sr., Oral History Interview, 2022

Eastern Michigan University Archives