Democratic State Senator Brilliantly Claps Back at Senate’s Homophobic Republican Leader
Jeremy Moss critiques Republican leadership who buried his proposed Pride Month resolution
State Sen. Jeremy Moss is getting the last laugh after Senate Leader Mike Shirkey, a Republican, tried to add offensive language to his proposed LGBTQ+ Pride Month Resolution. The Senate had passed the same basic resolution only last year — on Moss’s third attempt to get it passed — but this election year, they sabotaged it.
Shirkey tried to amend Moss’s resolution by adding the phrase, “Though not every citizen in Michigan agrees with the lifestyle of the LGBT community, it is agreed that every life is special, precious, unique and loved by the creator, and each person is created in God’s image.”
Moss was rightly offended and not having it. Unable to reach agreement, Shirkey sent the proposed resolution back to committee, in essence assuring it would not be presented for a vote during Pride Month. But Moss wasn’t done yet. When a similar resolution celebrating Craft Beer Month came up, Moss added an amendment to the bill exposing the ridiculousness of Shirkey’s actions.
“Although not every citizen in Michigan agrees with the lifestyle of consuming alcohol, it is agreed that every beverage is special, precious, unique and loved by its creator, and each beer is created in its maker’s image,” read Moss’s amendment.
The resolution was then adopted with Moss’s language included. Still, while it was a minor victory, the entire debacle showed just how far Michigan’s LGBTQ+ community has to go to achieve full equality and a modicum of respect from Republican elected officials.
“The Republican leadership regresses and again throws Pride Month back into the trash heap,” Moss said. “I guess the cruelty is the point. There are LGBTQ people like me in all sectors of the Michigan economy who only wish to contribute, be good neighbors and not have the government interfere with their freedom to live their lives.”
Recently, Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBT Project, told Pride Source that Shirkey’s disingenuous plan was par for the course for the Republican majority in the state legislature.
“The bottom line is the legislative majority in Michigan in both the House and Senate have not been willing to move forward or to support anything that is pro-LGBTQ,” said Kaplan. “So this is kind of consistent. … It’s about recognizing Pride Month, it’s not talking about lifestyles or people’s religious beliefs. It’s just recognizing that all people should be afforded dignity.”
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