Jeremy Moss, Michigan’s First Openly Gay State Senator, Defends Trans Rights as He Launches Congressional Campaign
‘If you want to inflict harm, you'll have to see our faces’: How the Josh Schriver anti-marriage equality showdown shaped Moss's congressional bid
Michigan State Sen. Jeremy Moss announced his candidacy May 8 for Michigan's 11th Congressional District, promising to bring the same bold advocacy that has defined his career in state politics to Washington.
Moss, who made history as Michigan's first openly gay state senator, is running for the seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who recently announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters in 2026.
In an interview with Pride Source the day before he announced his congressional run, Moss shared his excitement about the campaign and reflected on how his headline-making confrontation with MAGA Republican Rep. Josh Schriver, who serves in the Michigan House, helped propel him toward this decision. The confrontation happened when Schriver held a press conference in February to call for the federal repeal of same-sex marriage equality.
"I think that's really a moment that actually has driven us to this day right now," Moss told Pride Source. "You know, I saw an announcement about the press conference and I said to my team, ‘I think I want to go to this. I think I want to watch this circus.’”
Moss described how that impulse turned into a viral moment that resonated with supporters nationwide.
"As I got into the room, I pulled up a seat in the front row," Moss recalled. "It was very important to me that if people like Josh Schriver and others want to inflict harm upon our community, that they're going to have to see the faces of real people who are impacted."
As Schriver fled the room without taking questions, Moss took over the podium, resulting in his passionate rebuke going viral online. "This was just as buffoonish as I expected it to be," Moss said as Schriver left. "I think that this has fallen flat with people in the state of Michigan. I think that people respect their LGBTQ neighbors, their LGBTQ family members. These marriages have been the law of the land for 10 years. They contribute to family security. They contribute to economic security."
After Moss’s rebuttal made the rounds on social media, "We got so many calls to my office,” Moss recalled. “Both within the district and across the state, but really across the country of people saying, ‘This is the way forward.’ In this very critical time in February, I think people were looking for bold actors to stand up. And my feet and my heart took me into that room."
When asked if his confrontational style would continue into his congressional campaign, Moss was unequivocal.
"That's not going to change," he said. "I'm going to continue to be outspoken as I always am on issues that are important to people who don't have a voice. If I have a platform, I'm going to use it."
"There was a moment, when I was younger, where I realized I'm never not going to be gay," Moss told Pride Source in a 2023 profile. "This is gonna be me for the rest of my life, and it's never going to change, so I have to live authentically, as who I am. If it's not me at that microphone in the Senate, it's nobody at that microphone in the Senate."
Moss's congressional bid builds on his landmark achievement in Michigan — the long-sought amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. As the lead architect of the legislation alongside Rep. Jason Hoskins, Moss successfully expanded civil rights protections to Michigan's LGBTQ+ community after years of Republican opposition.
"Whether it was serving in the minority under Republican-controlled legislature and taking to the podium every single day to demand action on LGBTQ+ rights, or as we started the term in the majority, I think it was that advocacy that elevated the Elliott-Larsen amendment to [be] among the first bills we introduced on the first day," Moss said. The historic legislation, which Gov. Whitmer signed into law in 2023, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations — making it one of Moss's most significant legislative victories and a cornerstone of his political legacy in Michigan.
Speaking with Pride Source, Moss also strongly criticized the recent anti-transgender bills, calling them "the same old playbook." "It's nothing new,” he said. “I mean, you can supplant ‘trans’ for ‘gay’ from 50, 40, 30 years ago. Lies, conspiracies and just outright hatred to a vulnerable population who just wants to be heard and just wants to be listened to."
Moss directly addressed attempts to ban transgender athletes from sports, noting, "The reality is today in Michigan, there are zero trans athletes registered with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. That resolution to call on the association to ban trans athletes, it garnered 61 votes, shamefully, because it had some Democratic support as well. But that's 61 more people than there are trans student athletes here in the state of Michigan."
He further stressed that these issues are "contrived just to generate political controversy and political liftoff" and positioned the LGBTQ+ community as "very much used to having these elections run on our backs and being this political punching bag every election cycle. This is why it's essential to ensure our voices are heard in the rooms where decisions about us are being made."
While LGBTQ+ rights remain central to his identity and advocacy, Moss emphasized that his campaign will address broader concerns affecting all constituents.
"We can talk about Elliott-Larsen, but we can also talk about reproductive health care, where I was an advocate in support of scrapping the 1931 abortion felony and building upon the ballot proposal in 2022,” Moss added. “All of these things are under threat at the federal level and will require a Michigan voice to be loud in that discussion in Congress."
The Southfield native currently serves as Michigan Senate President Pro Tempore and chairs the Senate Elections Committee, where he's focused on protecting voting rights and increasing government transparency. "I have been the leading voice in safeguarding access to the ballot box,” he said. “I truly believe that voting rights secure all other rights."
True to his Michigan political roots, Moss’s U.S. Congressional election platform focuses on economic issues like lowering costs and fighting against practices like price gouging, alongside protecting fundamental rights. Moss specifically highlighted concerns about tariffs implemented under the Trump administration.
"I hear from the residents in my district, and I've represented hundreds of thousands of people who call the 11th Congressional District home,” Moss said. “And there's a lot of anxiety and anguish about our economy and about our democracy. These tariffs are erratic and causing chaos — I don't think you could tell me what the policy is today because it could change later today, but they are raising costs and creating economic instability."
"This fight has to be about lowering costs,” he said. “We've done that in the legislature. We've delivered about a billion dollars in tax relief by scrapping the pension tax and boosting the working families tax credit. I've personally been leading the charge in the legislature to crack down on unscrupulous practices like price gouging, where people try to exploit others' economic anxieties."
Moss described his campaign as following in the footsteps of his mentor, retired Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence.
"I'm running in the mold of my mentor, retired Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, who impressed on me that public service is about putting people first," Moss said in his announcement. "Her leadership continues to inspire me and I will take that spirit with me to Washington."
"With looming threats from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Democrats can no longer be the party that shows up to this tough fight ahead with another pie chart,” he told Pride Source. “This is a moment that calls for bold leadership to step up and take action."
For more information about Jeremy Moss's campaign for Congress, visit votejeremymoss.com.
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