Whitmer signs into law anti-discrimination protections for gay, transgender people

Lansing − Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law legislation Thursday that would add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to the state's Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prevents against discrimination related to employment, housing and public accommodations.

The long-debated policy explicitly adds to state law what the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in July, that the state's protections against discrimination based on sex include protections for gay and transgender individuals.

The first bill to include the protections was introduced 40 years ago in 1983, but has been blocked by Republican majorities since, said Sen. Jeremy Moss, the state's first openly gay senator and the chief sponsor of the policy. In January, for the first time in 40 years, Democrats took control of the Michigan House and Senate, and named the changes to the anti-discrimination law a priority.

"This moment is so long overdue and too many suffered on the journey to get here," the Southfield Democrat said. "... Turns out they were waiting for us. They were waiting for a Legislature with the courage to stand up to hate and stand up for equality. They were waiting for members of our own community to tell our story in the chambers of the state Capitol. And they were waiting for a governor like Gretchen Whitmer to sign this bill."

Whitmer said the policy cements Michigan as a state that defends fundamental freedoms.

"We've proved it over and over again these last few months, whether its your freedom to make your own decisions about your body, your freedom to go to school or work without worrying about a mass shooting, your freedom to be who you are, love who you love," Whitmer said.

The law defines gender identity or expression as "having a gender-related self-identity or expression whether or not associated with an individual's assigned sex at birth." Sexual orientation is described as "having an orientation for heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality or having a history of such an orientation or being identified with such an orientation."

Past Republican majorities have opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the law unless there also were protections for individuals acting on sincerely held religious beliefs. Democrats have argued religion already is a protected class under the law.

The law passed in the House with eight Republicans in support of the policy.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, the state's first openly gay attorney general, noted much had changed for LGBTQ individuals since a landmark gay marriage case in 2015, where Nessel successfully argued for same-sex marriage rights. The battles, she said, were hard fought and still not over.

"We will not relent," Nessel said. "We will not submit. We will not ever stop striving for equal opportunity under the law for all Michiganders."

Former state Rep. Mel Larsen, who passed the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act with state Rep. Daisy Elliott in 1977, said it was always the intent of the law to protect all Michigan residents. While the changes were a long time in coming, he said the end result was worth the wait.

"We're on this earth to move the pendulum a little bit in our lifetime," Larsen said. "And if we do, by God, we've been successful."

The policy, which has been debated for decades, became a point of increasing contention in 2018 when the Michigan Department of Civil Rights announced its interpretation that Michigan law already protected against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation under the ban on discrimination based on sex.

When the department later initiated investigations against a Marquette electrolysis center that refused to serve a transitioning individual and a Sturgis wedding venue that refused to serve a gay couple, the electrolysis center and wedding venue filed suit challenging the department's interpretation of the law.

Ruling on the case in December 2020, Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray ruled that federal court precedent established "gender identity" as falling under the definition of "sex." But Murray said a 1993 Michigan Court of Appeals opinion prevented him from including sexual orientation in that decision.

The Michigan Supreme Court in July left Murray's decision on gender identity untouched, but overturned the 1993 Court of Appeals opinion in ruling sexual orientation was also covered under the law's definition of "sex."

Advocates for the policy argued for laws that would explicitly list sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in the event that a future court reverses the July decision.

"We're all too well aware that court decisions can change depending on the composition of the jurists," Nessel said Thursday. "They can change at any time."

eleblanc@detroitnews.com