08/10/2024
In 2018, Michiganders passed two Voters Not Politicians ballot initiatives that expanded voter access in the state and established a nonpartisan commission to draw our districts. The new commission was established following the 2020 census and those new fairer districts were reflected in 2022's election results. 2018 was also the year we first elected Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel. Democrats in the state legislature had been trying for more than twenty years to amend the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its protected classes. Due to four decades of Michigan GOP control, that never happened. Not until the 2023 legislative session began after our was elected in 2022, and therefore finally had leadership. This means that Democrats, and not the MIGOP, were finally in charge of what legislation made it to committees, out of committees, and actually scheduled for presentation to the full legislature for a vote. Finally! The LGBTQIA2S+ community can no longer be fired or denied employment or housing for who they love or how they identify, which makes Michigan a more attractive and equitable place for all of us to live, work, and raise our families.
Whether individuals recognize it or not, Democrats in our state have always been working on behalf of working people and families. Sadly, so much of their work went unrecognized and unrealized at the state level for the prior four decades. We need ballot rollover (voting up and down the whole ballot versus just for the handful of names people easily recognize) to be a thing the majority of voters regularly understand and do. Which means we need to continue electing Democrats who reliably vote to support and enrich public education (that same MIGOP has been undermining and disinvesting in public education for four decades; their efforts began and were successful in communities of color first, but we've seen that same strategy play out in recent years with disruptors trying to ban books and take over school boards), so that more of our voting citizens understand civics and how government is supposed to and can work.
Thanks to , LGBTQ+ folks have gained protections from discrimination in housing, employment, health insurance, schools, and public accommodations.
In particular, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act is the backbone of protections for trans students and LGBTQ students generally in Michigan. Schools should continue to ensure discrimination isn't happening, including for bathrooms that align with a student's gender identity.
