LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Senate voted Wednesday to ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, marking a legislative turning point that came after decades of debate in state government.
Democrats, who took control of the chamber for first time in nearly 40 years in January, made the bill to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for gay and transgender residents an early priority. Republicans had previously blocked similar proposals, arguing the protections infringed on religious rights.
The bill passed 23-15 with three Republicans joining the 20 Democrats in support. There was applause among lawmakers on the Senate floor after the vote. The GOP lawmakers who crossed over to vote "yes" with the Democrats were Sens. Joe Bellino of Monroe, Ruth Johnson of Holly and Mike Webber of Rochester Hills.
The 1976 law currently prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, real estate and public services based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status or marital status. The new measure would add sexual orientation and gender identity or expression to the list of protected categories.
Democratic lawmakers touted the vote on Wednesday as a historic triumph while Republicans contended that religious groups would face legal repercussions for acting on their beliefs under the policy.
Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, described Wednesday as a "proud day" for Michigan, saying the vote signaled all people are welcomed in the state.
"We have a historic opportunity today to right a wrong that should have been righted decades ago," McMorrow said. "Every single one of us in this room has to recognize that granting those around us more rights and more protections does nothing to strip away our own rights and protections."
Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, who is openly gay and the bill's sponsor, said a similar proposal was first introduced 40 years ago. He said there were people in Michigan who were afraid to sit on the same side of a table in a restaurant with their loved one because it might open them up to discrimination with no legal remedy.
"This bill liberates them," Moss said.
But Sen. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, said the bill was an attempt to enforce one "belief system" on everyone in Michigan. Albert said the proposal could force religious organizations to hire people who have stances that are contrary to the groups'.
"It could create a situation where religious organizations, nonprofits or even individuals are potentially held liable for simply exercising their religious beliefs," Albert said.
The Michigan Catholic Conference has also argued the current bill would lead to discrimination against people of faith and force religious organizations into lengthy litigation.
However, Moss said the scenario Albert described was a hypothetical that hasn't played out. Government cannot intervene in the religious practice of a religious institution, Moss said.
Already, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in July the current protections from discrimination based on sex included protections for sexual orientation. An appellate court earlier had ruled the law's protections based on sex also protected individuals from discrimination based on gender identity.
Even after the 5-2 high court decision, advocates urged the Legislature to make those protections explicit in the law in order to remove the potential for the state's highest court to change its opinion in a future case before a different set of justices.
Under the new bill's language, "gender identity or expression" is defined "as having a gender-related self-identity or expression whether or not associated with an individual's assigned sex at birth."
The legislation now moves to the state House for consideration. The House, controlled by Democrats, and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are widely expected to enact the change.
Over the last decade, the campaign to expand Elliott-Larsen has repeatedly gained the political spotlight in Lansing, but supporters have come up short, even with the backing of some of Michigan's largest private employers.
In 2014, then-House Speaker Jase Bolger, a Republican, sought to pair the civil rights protections for sexual orientation with a "Religious Freedom Restoration Act."
The GOP lawmaker who pushed for an Elliott-Larsen expansion at that time, then-Rep. Frank Foster of Petoskey, lost a primary election to conservative challenger, Lee Chatfield of Levering, who went on to become the House speaker.
Foster, now a lobbyist at the Lansing lobbying firm Public Affairs Associates, was in the Senate gallery Wednesday for the debate.
In an interview, Foster said Wednesday's vote was an example of things coming full circle. Not everything happens in a timely manner, he said.
"It's good to see it take one more step toward becoming law," Foster added.
Asked about Foster, Moss said the vote on Wednesday would not have been possible without the work of allies from both sides of the aisle.
"Because of him standing up and risking his own political career, he made it so that the next class of legislators on both sides of the aisle could really have this conversation in their district and have the security that they knew that their next election wasn't going to ride or die on whether or not they vote for this bill," Moss said.
In January 2020, a coalition of business executives, political activists and nonprofit leaders launched a petition campaign to initiate legislation that would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Michigan.
However, the effort was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and failed to gain the signatures necessary.
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(Detroit News staff writer Beth LeBlanc contributed to this story.)
