BY JAN STEVENSON
The ACLU of Michigan has been a champion for our equality for decades. Jay Kaplan, the organization's staff attorney of the LGBT Project, has for years provided us a thoughtful, serious and effective voice for LGBT equality. What gains the LGBT community has made would not have been possible without the ACLU of Michigan.
We at BTL are horrified by what is currently going on in our government at both the federal and state levels. New attacks on legal protections for LGBT people, immigrants and others are announced almost daily out of Washington and Lansing. We are finding it increasingly difficult to hope for a brighter future for LGBT people, people of color and varied abilities in our schools, places of business and houses of worship.
But the good news is that we are not helpless – in fact we have extraordinary resources to resist and to fight for basic human rights for everyone, regardless of their color, sexual orientation, country of origin, religion, ability, gender identity, marital status, age or other defining characteristic.
The ACLU of Michigan is one of our most powerful resources. BTL values the organization's consistent, principled legal challenges to protect our Constitution and Bill of Rights, the hard work they have done for decades, often outside the glare of public attention. The ACLU of Michigan has stood up for LGBT people in countless cases involving the issues of equitable parenthood, accurate gender markers on drivers' licenses for trans people, spousal benefits at work, healthcare insurance discrimination cases, marriage equality and more.
The work of the ACLU of Michigan is more important now than at any other moment in modern times. As we and our progressive partners and allies face this current political backlash against full equality, we need the ACLU of Michigan to be strong, to have whatever they need to stand up for fairness and equality. That is why BTL announces a new matching LGBT gift to the ACLU of Michigan of $5,000.
We are inviting you – our readers – to join us in supporting the ACLU of Michigan by making a donation – and BTL will match your gift up to $5,000.
To donate, visit the "BTL's Challenge Grant to the ACLU of Michigan" page. Make your gift and BTL will match your gift 100 percent.
Together we can make a difference. Your gift today will send a strong message to the ACLU that the LGBT community of Michigan stands ready to support this vital organization. They fight for us – now we must support them together.
