Why the Grand Rapids Chamber is sitting on the sidelines in LGBTQ civil rights fight in Lansing
Fair and Equal Michigan via Facebook
In October, the Fair and Equal Michigan ballot campaign submitted more than 483,000 signatures to the Secretary of State s office for an initiative to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people in Michigan by amending the state s 45-year-old civil rights law.
The citizens initiative seeking to make it illegal to fire or deny someone housing because they re gay or transgender gained support last week from a half-dozen local chambers of commerce across Michigan.
Business and economic development groups in Flint, Jackson, Lansing, Midland, Saginaw and Traverse City joined the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Ypsilanti Regional Chamber and Southwest Michigan First in backing Fair and Equal Michigan, an initiative petition to amend the state s civil rights law that may arrive at the Michigan Legislature s doorstep later this year.
One month after Michigan’s bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen at 25-percent capacity, statewide business leaders are urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to increase how many customers are permitted in indoor dining rooms.
A group of 14 regional business associations sent a letter to Whitmer on Monday, saying they’re “encouraged by the data” on coronavirus trends in the state. The decline in cases since January, they hope, will inspire her to allow the next phase of reopening.
“It is no secret that some industries, based on the sheer nature of their industries, have been impacted more than others,” according to the letter signed by the group that includes chambers of commerce representing the state, Detroit region and Grand Rapids.
January 27, 2021 By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com
Despite continued debate about resuming in-person instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local medical experts and others say research shows there is not widespread transmission tied to schools.
A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests there is reassuring evidence on the topic. CDC Researchers said âas many schools have reopened for in-person instruction in some parts of the U.S. as well as internationally, school-related cases of COVID-19 have been reported, but there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. CDC experts have warned that school sports pose a greater risk.