This weekend’s Michigan Pride festival and rally in downtown Lansing served as a reminder of state lawmakers’ apparent lack of concern about discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Although Michigan has had an openly gay legislator for two years, three bills addressing assault or discrimination based on sexual orientation have largely been ignored by the Legislature.
That failure to take action is, at best, disappointing.
Perhaps Michigan’s legislators are afraid that if they vote for any measure that conservative religious groups see as condoning homosexual behavior, they may lose their posts in an upcoming election.
This state’s thousands of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender citizens can probably relate to that fear.
After all, in most places in Michigan, landlords can turn away applicants simply because they may be gay, and employers can fire anyone who identifies as transgender regardless of job performance.
No wonder so many LBGT people go to work or school pretending to be someone else.
But Michigan’s leaders need to realize that passing hate-crime or anti-discrimination legislation should not be equated with giving a rubber-stamped approval of any behavior.
Instead, it is an affirmation of the basic rights we have as Americans to live our lives without fear of being harassed in school, beaten while walking down the street or unnecessarily fired from our jobs.
No one should ever be subjected to that treatment.
The inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in American law has been slow in coming.
Only 12 states include sexual orientation in their civil rights laws.
In Michigan, cities - including East Lansing - seem to be moving forward much faster than the state itself.
Last year, Huntington Woods became the 13th city to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and Kalamazoo and Traverse City both overturned plans to ban the cities from ever giving anti-discrimination protection to the LBGT community.
These local efforts represent one answer to a state government that has closed its ears to the needs of its citizens.
The other is a united effort by the LBGT community and its straight allies to directly lobby for change and elect leaders who understand the importance of equal rights.
Too many people in Michigan have been given the wrong image of the LBGT community.
Those misconceptions must be erased by active involvement in community events, local issues and statewide politics.
Donate to lobbying groups, volunteer to help political campaigns and be an advocate, whenever possible, for LBGT issues.
It’s excruciatingly clear that Michigan’s current power structure will not protect its citizens from hate and discrimination. The only solution is to create one that will.
