(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/08/2023) With a 64-45 bipartisan vote, the House Wednesday passed SB 4, legislation to make Michigan the 24th state to give some civil rights protections to the LGBTQ community.
All the House Democrats were joined in support of the measure by Republican Reps. Timothy Beson (R-Bay City), Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar), Graham Filler (R-St. Johns), Mike Mueller (R-Linden) Kathy Schmaltz (R-Jackson), Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland), Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) and Pauline WendzeL (R-Coloma) in support.
SB 4 previously passed the Senate and could be sent to the Governor as soon as Thursday.
HB 4003 would need to wait until next Tuesday to be acted on by the Senate, but the bills are identical, so it's expected only one will be sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her expected signature.
According to one source, SB 4 is the more likely of the two bills to be sent to the Governor.
The vote followed emotional speeches from openly LGBTQ members who shared their stories of discrimination.
Rep. Emily E. Dievendorf (D-Lansing) introduced herself to the chamber as "your non-binary member," who said she's been personally turned down for jobs because she was too well-known as an LGBTQ activist for Equality Michigan.
She said a vote against these bills is a vote "that I am less than."
"This community needs to be seen, to be known, to be loved," Dievendorf said. "It is a bare minimum that our humanity be recognized and our equality be achieved."
She was followed by Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) , the House's youngest LGBTQ member, who told about how his backpack was stolen years ago. When he found it, "FAG" was written on it in permanent black marker.
He spoke about the fears he faced as a gay person and the prejudices he feared from people who used religion as a shield.
"Can you not see the Lord in me? Can you not see the Lord in your gay sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews? Can you not see the Lord in us?" Arbit said.
In all, six members of the House are openly LGBTQ, by far the largest such caucus in Michigan history.
Republicans attempted to add various religious protections and civil rights protections for vaccination status.
Rep. Jaime Greene (R-Richmond)'s amendment tie-barred the bills to legislation that would ban individuals born with a "y" chromosome from participating in women's sports.
"Don't sideline our girls," Steele said.
Rep. Joseph D. Fox (R-Fremont) attempted to create a "bathroom" amendment that school bathrooms be separated based on a person's born gender.
As the amendments were all being defeated, Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford) plopped a 7-foot-tall American flag pole on his desk.
The vote came only a couple hours after the Judiciary Committee reported both bills, which added sexual orientation and gender identity or expression as categories protected under the civil rights law.
After hearing testimony, the committee quickly rejected six Republican-proposed amendments that would have added religious or faith-based protections. Voting no on each were the panel's Democrats.
“If we pass this, we will be the only state in the entire nation that passes it without these amendments,” Rep. Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Odessa) said.
Reps. Pauline Wendzel (R-Coloma) and Doug Wozniak (R-Shelby Township), the latter of whom has two same-sex marriages in his immediate family, passed on moving both bills.
“I’m really afraid about the hostility that I sense from the other side with religious freedom and that’s what I think could be a problem with this bill,” Wozniak said as he introduced an amendment that failed.
The general impetus behind the bills is to codify into law the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling in Rouch World LLC v. Michigan Department of Civil Rights, which held the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act provides protection based on “sexual orientation.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Kelly Breen (D-Novi) opened the committee meeting acknowledging it’s an issue that “people care very, very deeply about” and warning those present to be respectful of one another.
Rep. Pat Outman (R-Six Lakes) and others expressed concern about including religious protections, but Rep. Jason Hoskins (D-Southfield), Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and Jay Kaplan, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ project, said the presumption that adding the LGBTQ category to ELCRA will displace their religious beliefs is misguided.
“We would like to remind this body that religion is a protected body under ELCRA,” Kaplan said. “The First Amendment provides for a strong separation of church and state and recognizes that religious institutions and people of faith are entitled to hold their sincerely held beliefs.
“It is within this framework that we can state that these amendments to Elliott-Larsen are not going to require a church that officiates a wedding between a same-sex couple, nor will it require a church or a mosque or a synagogue to hire an LGBTQ person to carry out its ministerial functions,” he added. “However, there are some opponents who have argued that when it comes to LGBTQ people, there is a right to discriminate in non-religious activities because of their faith and beliefs. Our Constitution has never recognized this purported religious freedom.”
Tom Hickson, vice president of public policy for the Michigan Catholic Conference, said the crux of the issue is “adding religious exemptions.” He said the Catholic religion’s heart is the “belief that all people are created in the image and likeness of God and are deserving of dignity, compassion and respect regardless of their classification or orientation.”
However, he noted, marriage is between a man and a woman and, without protection, religious groups could be taken into court “over their sincerely held, long-standing religious beliefs.”
Hickson encouraged the committee to pass the various amendments to protect religious entities’ other services, such as hospitals and food pantries.
“Let’s ensure that this law meets constitutional muster,” he said. “The policymaking process should attempt to protect the rights of all different groups of people.”
The Senate’s Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee moved its version,
SB 4, in early February on a 5-1 vote with Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) voting no and Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) abstaining.
