By Josh Sgroi
Early Life and Family
Jim Toy was born to a Scotch-Irish mother and a Chinese father in New York City in April of 1930.1 During his childhood, his father, James2, moved the family to Ohio after Jim’s mother’s, Ruth3, passing to live near her parents.4 Their names were Alice and Samuel Hamblen, and they were both Baptist missionaries. Due to being of mixed- race, Chinese-American, he was the target of racist attitudes and actions during the Second World War.5 His stepmother, fearing what others might do and say to him, oftentimes sent him to school wearing a sign around his neck that said “I AM NOT A JAP”, to avoid the anti-Japanese sentiment that was rampant due to the war.6 When it came time for college, Toy attended Denison University in Ohio where he studied French, Musicology, and the violin.7 After spending some time teaching in France, Toy then worked in a New York City blood bank to avoid going off to war, which he opposed due to his religious beliefs.8
Michigander and Activist
Toy received a letter from his former rector offering him to be the director of a the church music program.9 “The letter saved me from my morass of ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do with my life?’”10 Toy accepted and moved to Detroit to become the organist and choirmaster at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church.11 Toy describes the 1960s as the years when he most wrestled with his conflicting feelings about himself and his sexuality.12 He was able to find support through the progressive and “radical” nature of
St. Joseph’s.13 During his time at St. Joseph’s, he married a female member of the choir as he felt it would help quell his troubles with his sexuality.14 “I said to myself the night before the wedding, ‘You are bisexual at worst, and this marriage will cure you.’”15 Of course, that was not the case and she divorced him after a few years.16
While typing up a Sunday church bulletin in 1969, Toy noticed a note about a “Gay Meeting”.17 Having no idea what it meant, and receiving no real clarification from the priest, Toy returned home to Ann Arbor and discussed it with a friend at a local gay bar.18 They were shocked, confused, and curious: “There had never been an open, above-ground, advertised, ‘gay meeting’ in Michigan.”19 The pair decided to go and arrived to find several other men and women who shared their mixed emotions.20 It was from this “Gay Meeting”, that Toy and others in attendance would found the Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front.21
In the 1970s, Toy opened up and accepted his sexuality.22 After founding both the Detroit Gay Liberation Movement and then the Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front, worked to end the discrimination that was felt by LGBT individuals at the time.23 During his time working with the Detroit Gay Liberation Movement, Toy attended a march down Woodward Avenue which ended in a rally at Kennedy Square.24 When their arranged speaker refused the podium walked off, Toy decided now was the time to step up.25 “I’d never spoken in public before and I got up to the speaker’s podium and, I can feel it now, it was like fire and ice…I began speaking out against the Vietnam War, and as I wound up what I had to say, I said ‘My name is Jim, I’m forty years old, and I am a gay man.’ That marked my coming out.”26 In doing so, Toy became the first to publicly declare his homosexuality in Michigan history.27 What he did not realize at the time was that this public event had press in attendance, and his public declaration would be published by the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.28
Also during his time working at St. Joseph’s, Toy enrolled in the University of Michigan’s musicology program.29 He was approached by an administrative secretary who informed him that there were university offices for both black and women students, and offered to try and set up an office for LGBT students to which Toy happily accepted.30 In the formal request put forth by Toy and others from the Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front, they asked that the university create an office and have it staffed by both a woman and a man to better serve students, to which the university agreed and the Human Sexuality Office (HSO) was created in 1971.31 This founding was historic as it was the first office of its kind in the United States.32 Small at its founding, Toy recalls that it was “…one desk and two chairs and a filing cabinet”.33 Despite having very limited resources, the HSO sought to educate, advise, and council students who were in need.34 The HSO held seminars and conferences as well as appeared in classrooms to “dispel myths and stereotypes about gay life”.35 This founding was also monumental as it occurred during a time where LGBT people and movements were not widely accepted. The HSO was founded two years after the Stonewall Riots and two years before homosexuality would no longer be defined as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.36 There was also significant pushback from the public. An article from the time, written by a conservative writer by the name of Russell Kirk, claimed that the “..University of Michigan now had ‘services for sodomites and lesbians in the student body’” and said the HSO was led by “sexual deviates”.37
During his time at the University of Michigan, Toy also pushed for the university to include sexual orientation protections to the bylaws.38 When first proposed in 1973, one of the regents vehemently opposed it on religious grounds and even used Bible quotes in his arguments.39 Unfortunately, he was quite popular and was repeatedly re- elected to his position.40 The issue remained tabled until 1992 when two more liberal regents, Rebecca McGowan and Lawrence Deitch, were elected.41 The two met with Toy and confirmed his interest in reopening the protections to debate.42 The same conservative regent rose and reaffirmed his religious-based convictions that the protections ought not pass.43 However, times had changed. “Regent Deitch pounded on the table and said ‘The only reason that we have wasted time for twenty-one years on this concern is because of you and your obsession!’”44 When the votes were cast, the regents voted nine to one in favor of changing the bylaw.45 Toy has commented on how he viewed the ordeal: “After the vote, I was euphoric. I don’t know what other term to use. After those decades of working for this change, it was an explosion of relief.”46
Apart from the University of Michigan, Toy also lead the movement for change within his church and local politics. In the 1970s he worked within the Episcopal church on their commission on homosexuality as well as helped create a chapter for gay Episcopalians in Detroit.47 He has also worked since 1989 on the church’s Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Men’s Concerns.48 Due to his involvement in several gay liberation groups, he worked to influence local politics. He helped write an anti-LGBT discrimination ordinance for the city of Ann Arbor which the city approved in 1972.49 His political work didn’t stop there, “On the state level, Toy served as a member of the Task Force on the Family and Sexuality of the Civil Rights Committee of the Michigan State House of Representatives.”50 He also worked with a plethora of other state and local chapters of organizations whose missions are to advance human rights in Michigan.
Present Day
Toy no longer works for the University of Michigan, as he stepped down from his director position in 1994.51 He has been retired since 2008, or as he calls it, his “advancement”.52 He is mostly at home, however he does maintain regular contact with a few organizations, mostly the University of Michigan’s Spectrum Center, as the Human Sexuality Office he helped found is now called.53 He is also “doing what [he] can from here”.54 He is currently concerned about and working to change the current state laws which omit protections against LGBT discrimination and do not include LGBT peoples as part of its hate crime legislation.55 “That’s a campaign that I continue to be involved with” Toy has said regarding his recent works on the state level.56
NOTES
1 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
2 “Jim Toy: Profile” LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, stable URL: https:// lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/jim-toy : accessed 17 April 2021
3 “Jim Toy: Profile” LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, stable URL: https:// lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/jim-toy : accessed 17 April 2021
4 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 196
5 “Jim Toy: Profile” LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, stable URL: https:// lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/jim-toy : accessed 17 April 2021
6 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 196
7 “Jim Toy: Profile” LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, stable URL: https:// lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/jim-toy : accessed 17 April 2021
8 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
9 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 196
10 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 196
11 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
12 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
13 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
14 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
15 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
16 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
17 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
18 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
19 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
20 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
21 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
22 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
23 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
24 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 197
25 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
26 Rigg, Sarah. “Washtenaw County residents prove that age is no barrier to activism.” Second Wave Media, Concentrate. Stable URL : https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/ features/activism0505.aspx : accessed 17 April 2021
27 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library
28 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
29 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
30 Spectrumctr “SC40 Film History – The beginning” YouTube, stable URL: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BYOGlf338M&list=WL&index=41&t=314s : accessed 17 April 2021
31 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
32 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
33 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
34 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library
35 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
36 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
37 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
38 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
39 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
40 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
41 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
42 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 198
43 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 199
44 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 199
45 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 199
46 Mason Funk. The Book of Pride: LGBT Heroes Who Changed The World. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2019) 199
47 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
48 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
49 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
50 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
51 “Jim W. Toy Papers: 1963-2009” University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library, stable URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-9744? byte=20787542;focusrgn=bioghist;subview=standard;view=reslist : accessed 17 April 2021
52 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
53 Rigg, Sarah. “Washtenaw County residents prove that age is no barrier to activism.” Second Wave Media, Concentrate. Stable URL : https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/ features/activism0505.aspx : accessed 17 April 2021
54 Rigg, Sarah. “Washtenaw County residents prove that age is no barrier to activism.” Second Wave Media, Concentrate. Stable URL : https://www.secondwavemedia.com/concentrate/ features/activism0505.aspx : accessed 17 April 2021
55 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 202156 Allen, Samantha. “Jim Toy Made LGBT History – and He’s Not Done fighting: In 1971, Jim Toy founded the Human Sexuality Office at the University of Michigan with lesbian activist Cyndi Gair: and LGBT first. Now aged 88, he’s still fighting for equality.” The Daily Beast. Stable URL: https://search-proquest-com.lcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2056290755?pq- origsite=summon : accessed 17 April 2021
