Jackson City Commission Votes to Take Up Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Originally printed 8/23/2012 (Issue 2034 - Between The Lines News)

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JACKSON -

On Aug. 14, the Jackson City Commission voted to take up the issue of adopting an inclusive and equal non-discrimination ordinance. Specifically the ordinance would ban discrimination of people based on a number of factors, including their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. In recent months, similar ordinances have passed in Flint, Mount Pleasant, and Muskegon. Last year voters in Traverse City upheld their city's nondiscrimination ordinance.

A recent poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research shows that 73 percent of likely voters in the 2012 election support efforts to ban discrimination of LGBT people. The same poll showed that while the federal government, Michigan and many other states do not provide such protections, 80 percent of respondents inaccurately believed such protections were already in place on a federal level.

"The evidence is overwhelming that voters believe LGBT people deserve the same legal protections as any other population under threat of discrimination," said Roland Leggett II, director of field organizing for Equality Michigan. "While the anti-LGBT industry continues to fill their coffers by telling their donors distorted versions of history and falsely claiming these are special rights, the reality is voters are tired of their lies and are ready for equal protection for all people in Michigan."

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