LANSING, MI – Michigan Democrats are seeking “citizen co-sponsors” on new legislation that would extend statewide non-discrimination protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents.
“This is common sense legislation that’s long overdue,” said Rep. Jon Hoadley, R-Kalamazoo, sponsor of a House bill to update the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1976.
Similar legislation stalled out last year despite a push by business groups that was supported by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who has againasked the Legislature to discuss a possible update to the anti-discrimination law.
Amber McCann, a spokesperson for Senate Republicans, said the majority caucus does not currently have any plans to take on the Elliott-Larsen debate this year.
“It’s fair to say it’s not on our agenda,” she said.
Democrats, in announcing new bills at a press conference in the Michigan Capitol, launched an online petition asking residents to support their efforts and request for a legislative hearing “as soon as possible.”
Elliott-Larsen currently prohibits discrimination in the workplace, housing and places of public accommodation based on race, age, religion and a variety of other factors. The Democratic bills would add sexual orientation and gender identity protections.
The later classification, which would cover transgender residents, proved a sticking point in the debate last year, but supporters say the language would protect a class of people that faces more discrimination than most.
Bree Campbell of Detroit, who said she was assigned a male gender at birth but now identifies as a female, said an apartment building would not rent to her becuse of her gender identity. When she discussed her transition at work, she said, she was told she would be fired if she used the women’s rest room.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Campbell said. “It was my only source of employment, and I was afraid to lose my job. So instead of making a big ruckus about it, I just kind of let it happen.”
A business coalition including some of the state’s top employers have called on the Legislature to expand Elliott-Larsen, saying it would aide their efforts to attract a talented workforce.
“We don’t succeed when we have a sign up that says ‘Welcome to Michigan, most of you,'” said Andy LaBarre, vice president of the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber. “What we need is a sign up that says ‘Welcome to Michigan, all of you.’ Our employers get this.”
The timing of the new bills is “very important,” according to Sen. Rebekah Warren, who is sponsoring an Elliott-Larsen bill in the upper chamber.
She noted that a challenge to the state’s gay marriage ban went before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, the same day a Republican-led Senate panel took testimony on a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill.
The proposed RFRA “does the opposite of what we’re trying to do,” Warren said. “It tries to institutionalize discrimination as opposed to sending the message that Michigan’s arms, our businesses, our schools and our places of accommodation are open to all people.”
Tuesday’s debate over the proposed religious freedom bill spilled over onto the Senate floor on Wednesday morning, with supporters defending the measure.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Rick Jones, who hosted the RFRA hearing, noted that the Michigan bill is based on a 1993 law signed by President Bill Clinton and is similar to a 1998 Illinois law that Barack Obama voted for as a state Senator.
“Let’s be clear – yesterday we were debating a Democrat law,” said Jones. “Yet all the groups that have been criticizing Republicans, I haven’t heard any of them say let’s repeal these laws. I haven’t heard them call Bill Clinton a bigot.”
Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, said courts have interpreted the federal RFRA differently than states. The Chicago Sun Times reported last month that Illinois has a separate lawprohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group.
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