The Michigan Senate voted Wednesday to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected categories in the state.
The bill added an amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The ELCRA already prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status. (RELATED: The Left’s Transgender Agenda For Children Is At A Tipping Point)
The legislation was introduced previously in the 2021 – 2022 legislative session, when Republicans controlled the chamber. At the time, the bill died in the Senate Committee on Government Operations.
Thank you Senator @RunWithRunestad for fighting to protect ALL Michiganders from discrimination! #ReligiousFreedom pic.twitter.com/oLggVCnGHQ
— Michigan GOP (@MIGOP) February 23, 2023
Three Republican lawmakers — Joe Bellino of Monroe, Ruth Johnson of Holly and Mike Webber of Rochester Hills — joined Democrat colleagues in passing the bill 23 – 15.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in July 2022 that the state’s then-current ban on discrimination based on sex included sexual orientation because sexual orientation was “generally determined by reference to their own sex.”
“For far too long, #LGBTQ Michiganders could not seek justice after enduring discrimination because we were excluded from our state’s civil rights act,” Sen. Jeremy Moss, the bill’s sponsor, wrote on Twitter after the legislation passed.