Own up to it already!

This issue's story about AAA suddenly refusing to grant associate memberships to domestic partners is a good example of an organization not 'fessing up to its anti-gay views. AAA granted less expensive, associate memberships to domestic partners for years before it suddenly stopped granting them last fall, on the basis that Michigan law prohibits it. Wrong: Michigan law does not explicitly prohibit the AAA's membership options, nor did it when voters decided in 2004 that marriage, and the sharing of benefits, can only happen between a man and a woman. Plenty of organizations and state universities worked around the language: Instead of offering health benefits for a "domestic partner," for example, they changed their language to offer employees benefits to an "other eligible adult." There's no reason our state AAA branch couldn't do the same.
But if they chose not to, they should explain why. Someone made the executive decision to stop allowing those benefits. Who was it? What was the reason for making the change? AAA Michigan should hold itself accountable for its changed policy. Their PR representative had no documentation that showed any change in policy. If she doesn't know, someone else sure does. The policies should be transparent and accessible.
It's with the same scrutiny that we're looking at our new governor, Rick Snyder. Snyder has stayed mum on his social views, leaving many to suspect that he might be progressive. Turns out he's clueless. While he said that he does not oppose an "other eligible adult" of state employees receiving health benefits, he said he was "frustrated and disappointed" at the decision to approve such benefits because of the cost. That cost will be around $6 million, or .003 percent of this year's budget gap. That's three-thousands of one percent.
As a candidate, Synder also declined to fill out the Lansing Human Rights Politican Action Commission's survey, which asks questions about candidates' social views. The goal of the survey is to inform voters where, exactly, candidates stand on the issues. The survey has been distributed for more than 30 years. Snyder also declined to fill out BTL's survey for our voter's guide, and Equality Michigan's political survey too.
When companies or politicians aren't transparent about their views, we're led to scrutinize every action and make our best guesses. Snyder deciding that a progressive decision and benefit that costs .003 percent of our deficit is worth stomping and screaming about? Smells homophobic to us. AAA Michigan suddenly reversing a policy of allowing same-sex couples to use the slightly cheaper associate membership option? That smells homophobic too.
It's 2011. It's no longer appropriate to pretend the LGBT community doesn't exist, as Snyder and AAA Michigan are doing. It's no longer OK to stay mum on the LGBT equality issue, especially as it increasingly becomes a part of the national discourse.
We are more than open to a reasonable, grown-up conversation with AAA Michigan and Snyder. But Snyder doesn't return our calls, and AAA pretends nothing has changed. So the homophobic label? It's on. And the support of our community? It's gone.