The Basic Protections LGBT Citizens in MI Still Don't Have

When I was growing up as a gay man in metro Detroit, marriage equality was the defining issue surrounding conversations about gay rights. Now that this goal has been reached, the logical question is, what's next?
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The LGBT civil rights movement made significant progress when in the case Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the legal right to get married. When I was growing up as a gay man in metro Detroit, marriage equality was the defining issue surrounding conversations about gay rights. Now that this goal has been reached, the logical question is, what's next?

In Michigan there's still more work to do for the LGBT community. Republican state representative Gary Glenn commented in a documentary that schools that say it's okay to be gay should be held criminally responsible if a student contracts a sexually transmitted disease. Since when did being okay with your sexual orientation automatically make one more likely to have unprotected sex?

Glenn co-authored the Michigan marriage amendment that SCOTUS just struck down, but this raises the question: "What is the anti-gay lobby's next move to thwart equality?" Well, those wheels are already in motion. There are still few protections in this state to prevent discrimination in the workplace or housing because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Thanks to recent legislation signed by Rick Snyder, adoption agencies can refuse to allow same-sex couples to adopt children for religious reasons.

Not to mention the difficulties that transgender individuals face all over this country, including Michigan. Nationwide, studies reported that 78 percent of gender nonconforming students face harassment in schools. Legal measures, like civil rights and hate crime legislation, don't do a thing for LGBT people in Michigan. The Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act and the Ethnic Intimidation Act both do not have provisions to protect sexual minorities in our state. Michigan is one of 18 states that don't include sexual orientation in hate crime laws, and is one of 22 that don't include gender identity. The Republican legislature clearly doesn't view LGBT people as worthy of safety under the law.

In thinking about the movement towards equality, though, it's easy to divide up different movements by categories. The media and politicians routinely talk about the equal rights of black, Latino, female and LGBT Americans as if they are all independent and mutually exclusive categories. But we can't properly understand the experiences of our fellow citizens, and come up with legislative solutions, without properly reflecting on the intersections of different identities. Organizations like LGBT Detroit, for instance, work for the advancement of black LGBT individuals. Breaking up equality into different chunks might make for good sound bites on the news, but we need to look at the broader view of progress.

Civil rights organizations tend to go after the low hanging fruit, so to speak. Progress happens in small baby steps, where the arc of justice seems far away. How much longer are we going to allow transgender Michiganders to be discriminated against, though? When will it be unacceptable for our lawmakers to say inflammatory statements like being out and proud means you will contract an STD? Marriage equality is here, but there's more advocacy to be done, and laws to be changed. It's time to stand up Michigan -- what are we waiting for?

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