Lawmakers face ‘reckoning’ on expanding LGBT protections in civil rights act, supporters say
Updated Mar 08, 2021;
Posted Mar 08, 2021
A rainbow flag was photographed on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich., Tuesday, June 21, 2016. (Bryan Bennett / Kalamazoo Gazette)
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Whether it’s through legislation or at the ballot box in 2022, expanded civil rights protections for Michigan’s LGBT residents are coming, advocates said during a Monday news conference.
Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act currently protects people from discrimination based on several factors when it comes to employment, housing and public accommodations: religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status or marital status.
Support is growing for bills in the Michigan House and Senate to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity,
But House and Senate leaders made no commitment on Monday to consider the Democratic-backed legislative proposal.
State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, and Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, were joined by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to announce the most recent attempt to amend the state s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to clearly prohibit discrimination based on a person s sex, including gender identity or sexual orientation.
The issue is ripe for new consideration by the Legislature, either through the bills that Moss and Pohutsky are proposing or if the Fair and Equal Michigan petition initiative makes its way to lawmakers.
The petition s signatures currently are under review by the Michigan Bureau of Elections ahead of potential certification of the ballot initiative.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic lawmakers are renewing their call to expand the state’s civil rights law to include a ban on discrimination against LGBTQ.