BY BTL STAFF
MICHIGAN – As the Michigan Religious Freedom Restoration Act (MiRFRA) moves through the State's legislature, communities around the state have scheduled upcoming gatherings to discuss the bill and to protest against bill.
The Senate could potentially vote on MiRFRA on Dec. 18. The bill would act as a &"license to discriminate" against the LGBT community and other minority citizens. MiRFRA has been passed in the State House and if passed by the Senate would land on Gov. Snyder's desk for a signing into Michigan law.
Ferndale Pride will host a protest at 7 p.m. on Dec. 18 at City Hall in Ferndale. located on 9 Mile just east of Woodward. The community is encouraged to bring signs, knowledge and their voice to speak up against the bill.
Erica Moise, local attorney and citizen organized the rally, and will be joined by Ferndale Pride Coordinator Julia Music, Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter and several local faith leaders.
"I started this rally as an outlet for me and my friends. I wanted our legislators to know that we are paying attention. This legislation is disgusting, unnecessary, and shameful. Using religion as a weapon of discrimination is so far outside the tenets of any religion that it's clear this isn't about protecting religious freedom (something that is already vigorously protected and guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution), this is about playing politics with the lives of LGBT people – my people – and we are sick and tired of our lives being used by hypocrites and self-proclaimed "faith leaders" who only preach hatred and intolerance," Moise wrote in a press release.
Sign up for the Ferndale Rally and check the Facebook Page at for more details and to get friends and family involved.
Three community activists from Adrian, Michigan were bemoaning the passage of MiRFRA and struck on an idea. They wanted to protest. They thought such a move in the small conservative southern Michigan community might not get much attention, so they decided to take the protest to lawmakers.
"My friends and I finally agreed it was important to go to our state's capitol and voice our concerns. We created the protest online, really only expecting the friends in our local community service group (Changing Adrian) to attend with us," says Nicole Gestwite, a 28-year-old Early Education major at Adrian College. "We thought, even if only five people show up, we are still doing a good thing by taking action for what is right."
The trio of friends put together a Facebook event. "Well, the beauty of social media is that things can escalate pretty quickly," she said. "One thing led to another and here we are with speakers, signs and many more than our original three original protesters."
The protest will be held on the west steps of the state capitol from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 16. Featured speakers include Todd Heywood from Between The Lines newspaper and Rev. Jeff Leibmann of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Midland. Attendees are encouraged to bring signs and be prepared to march. RSVP and stay up to date on the Lansing protest by going to the Facebook Event page and signing up at.
Other ways to be involved include adding a signature to the petition signed by thousands of Michigan residents at http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/michigan-citizen-against, signing the Freedom Michigan petition http://action.freedommi.org/page/speakout/rfra or by contacting a State Senator with http://www.senate.michigan.gov/fysbyaddress.html to let them know how MiRFRA will affect families and businesses around the state.
Local Gatherings Against MiRFRA
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