The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the state of Michigan today, claiming a new law outlawing domestic partner benefits for public employees unfairly targets gay couples.
The ACLU claims the law is discriminatory toward members of the LBGT community, giving straight couples avenues to retain benefits while forcing same-sex couples to lose coverage.
The new law makes it illegal for public employers, such as the city of East Lansing, to offer benefits for domestic partners, including same-sex couples.
“They’ve kind of sent a message: ‘Okay, you can basically cover just about anybody, but you can’t cover these same-sex couples,’” ACLU Attorney Jay Kaplan said. “It violates their equal protection rights under the federal constitution.”
Although the original legislation originally included public universities, Gov. Rick Snyder signed the legislation on the condition they were exempt, insisting the move would violate autonomy guaranteed under the Michigan constitution.
On Dec. 29, president Lou Anna K. Simon issued a statement ensuring MSU would not be affected by the new law, still voicing her distaste for the law as a whole.
Supporters have said the law will conserve state funds, closing a loophole that previously allowed for waste of taxpayer dollars.
For an update on this story see Monday’s edition of The State News.
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