LGBTQIA+ History on Hennepin

Jean Tretter

Close-up colorful profile photo of Jean Tretter at Pride 2010 inserted onto a photo with a poster board on which Jean Tretter is leaning on while working at the Pride History Booth in 1991.

Photo 1: Jean Tretter. Pride History Booth, 1991. Photo 2: Jean Tretter. Pride, 2010. Photos courtesy of Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.

Jean-Nickolaus Tretter is an American activist, LGBT archivist, and historian whose legacy is the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota. Jean-Nickolas grew up in Little Falls before serving with the Navy in Vietnam. After discharge, he helped develop the LGBTQ+ scene in Minneapolis, including establishing Twin Cities Pride, co-founding the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights, and managing the Noble Roman and other gay bars across the Twin Cities.

See all featured leaders for LGBTQIA+ History on Hennepin.