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DeBoer Attorney Launches LGBT Equal Protection Ballot Measure

BY BTL STAFF

LANSING – Dana Nessel, one of the lawyers for Michigan's same-sex marriage case DeBoer v. Snyder, is set to launch a new bipartisan ballot committee that would add sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to the equal protection clause of the Michigan constitution.
Fair Michigan will be co-chaired by Republican Lansing attorney Richard McLellan and Nessel who hopes to begin gathering petition signatures for the ballot proposal early next year. The paperwork was filed Oct. 30 with the Secretary of State to get a constitutional amendment on the November 2016 ballot.
"We would just be adding different classes of people to the constitution who aren't getting protection now," Nessel told the Detroit Free Press. "The fact is that the Michigan Legislature has ignored efforts to protect people, so it's time we gave Michigan voters the power."
Many attempts have been made to add sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to the list of protected classes listed under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Right Act, the state's civil rights law. The latest attempt was in December of 2014, when a coalition comprised of businesses and political figures across the state nearly passed legislation that would have added protections for the LGBT community. However, the initiative didn't pass and no bill was sent to Gov. Snyder's desk to be signed into law.
In his fifth State of the State address in January, Snyder called for legislators to continue discussions on amending ELCRA.
"Let's keep up that dialogue and let's show that we can deal with issues of discrimination in our state," he said.
Fair Michigan still has to submit language to the Secretary of State and then collect a total of 315,654 signatures from registered voters to quality for the 2016 ballot. The Detroit Free Press reports that Nessel expects a broad coalition of supporters to help with the effort.
Nessel told the Detroit News the ballot initiative is being endorsed by Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, a Republican, and Kym Worthy, the Democratic prosecutor of Wayne County.

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