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An Open Letter to My Fellow Community Members: Let's Work Together

By Erica Moise
For the past few months, I've watched in horror as our community leaders have spent more time fighting amongst each other than focusing on what direction our movement is going in. As a community member, activist and lawyer who represents a lot of LGBT people, I call upon our leaders to do better than this. To rise above the petty dramas that politics can oftentimes create. To take off your political power blinders and look at the reality of our current world.
What do all lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons have in common in Michigan?
Every single one of them can be fired for simply being who they are. Or denied housing. Or become the victim of a violent hate crime that the law doesn't currently recognize as a hate crime. I can't count how many times I've been contacted about someone being fired for being gay, or harassed by the police for being trans, or denied an apartment because of their relationship status. And I have to tell them all the same exact painful answer, "That type of discrimination is 100 percent legal in Michigan."
The establishment organizations are in favor of spending the next three years trying to "flip" our Legislature so that they will amend Elliott-Larsen to include LGBT people. The newcomer on the block, Fair Michigan, wanted to put forth a ballot initiative that will amend the Michigan Constitution to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected legal classes in our state.
Two sides have the same common goal: to achieve full equality under the law for LGBT people; they just have two different approaches. We can't let one side drown out the other simply because of a tactical disagreement. This type of righteous indignation and infighting will choke off our ability to accomplish anything as a community.
So here's what I did. I took everything that the current organizations said about Fair Michigan and the ballot initiative, and I ignored it. I ignored the soundbites and the criticisms, and I set out to take an objective look at the facts. What I discovered floored me. Here is the proposed ballot language with the proposed changes in capital letters and bolded:

Article I, Sec. 2. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of his OR HER civil or political rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof because of religion, race, color, GENDER, GENDER IDENTITY, SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, or national original. The Legislature shall implement this section by appropriate legislation. WHEN USED IN LAWS OF THIS STATE PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES OR POLICIES BASED UPON SEX, RACE AND OTHER FACTORS, 'GENDER' AND 'SEX' SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO INCLUDE GENDER IDENTITY AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

The proposed ballot language is strikingly simplistic: Fair Michigan wants to amend the current constitution to add in sexual orientation, gender and gender identity to already existing protections for religion, race and national origin. It would also change the entirety of Michigan law by adding sexual orientation and gender identity into any law that already prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and sex.
Lost in the soundbites of the LGBT establishment's battle cries against Fair Michigan were any semblance of just how muscular the proposed ballot initiative really is. Here are three reasons that this approach should strongly be considered in the public sphere of ideas:
1. Amending the Michigan Constitution would be bulletproof against a RFRA bill.
The state Constitution would trump the state Legislature and make any attempt at passing a RFRA unconstitutional. However, a RFRA law in Michigan would serve as an exception to the protections of Elliott-Larsen based on one's "sincerely held religious beliefs." Twenty-one states currently have a RFRA law on the books. We need protections for LGBT people that can withstand RFRA, and this proposed amendment to the Constitution would provide that.
2. Fair Michigan's ballot proposal would provide a vast umbrella of constitutional rights and protections that would far exceed the scope of Elliott-Larsen.
For example, amending the constitution would also amend the Ethnic Intimidation Act, Michigan's hate crimes law. Currently, the act does not include LGBT people.
3. Fair Michigan wanted to spend the next two and half years on a public education campaign and making nonprofit legal services available for the LGBT community.
I say the more the merrier. The more education the better. The more options for LGBT community members for legal representation, the better. It's really a win-win for everyone.

It's time to put the political bad blood of the past behind us, and look to the future of this movement. There is room for more than one idea and for more than one organization. To suggest otherwise would indicate that the current LGBT leadership is trying to turn themselves into a fascist regime full of hollowed out talking points and Gestapo like attacks on anyone who doesn't "fall in line" with how they think things should be done. I would hate to believe that is where we are headed. In fact, I refuse to believe that. I know that our community and its leaders can do a much better job at working together to fight for the rights of all LGBT people. Our future depends on it.

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