Governor Rick Snyder says he wants the Legislature to add protections for people who are lesbian, gay, and transgender to the state’s civil rights law. The governor joins business leaders attending the Detroit Regional Chamber conference on Mackinac Island in calling for a change to the law.
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act already has protections based on race, national origin, marital status, gender, and weight, among other things. Governor Snyder sent the strongest signal yet that he’d look favorably on adding LGBT rights to the law.
“I don’t believe in discrimination and it would be great for these guys to take up this issue this year,” he said Thursday.
Supporters of adding employment and housing protections for LGBT people have identified a window between the August primary and the November general election. The state House speaker says it would also have to protect the religious views of people opposed to gay rights.
Governor Snyder remains a named defendant in the federal lawsuit challenging Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage.
