Topic: Michael Jones

Controversial Indiana gay rights activist Michael Jones (born 1964) has been credited with enabling the gay and lesbian community of Indianapolis to become more active and visible. His active period in Indiana was short, but in that time he was deeply involved in helping Ryan White and working to advance the rights of gays and lesbians. The controversy around him was centered on his brash and sometimes self-aggrandizing style.

Michael Jason Jones was born on September 24, 1964 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the only child of Everett Jones, Jr., a real estate broker, and Marlene Jean Hider Jones, a bookkeeper. Just 19 years later, he would become an outspoken proponent of gay and lesbian rights at the state then national level.

On Friday, June 26, 1984, Jones had been socializing with friends on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. The area was well-known as a gathering place for young gay males and had become a target for police activity. That Friday night, two plainclothes Indianapolis Police Department officers approached Jones, questioned him, frisked him and one groped his genitals. They left, telling Jones and his friends to move on.