Todd Heywood
HIV in Detroit: Officials, activists agree it's a crisis
"Research shows that without stable housing, access to mental health services and affirming environments, LGBTQ youth are more likely to engage in risky behaviors." – Mark Erwin, Ruth Ellis Center director of operations With some zip codes in the [...]
HUD Secretary touts new rules against housing discrimination
DETROIT – U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan Friday told a White House conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender homelessness that a new federal housing rule is an "idea whose time has come." "Just over a [...]
East Lansing celebrates nation's oldest LGBT nondiscrimination law
While some in the Michigan legislature are working to push through legislation that would roll back local nondiscrimination laws, the city of East Lansing today will recognize the 40th anniversary of the nation's first-of-its kind nondiscrimination [...]
Poll showing most Michiganders oppose partner benefits comes under scrutiny
A poll released last week showed significant voter opposition among Michiganders to giving health benefits to unmarried partners of public employees. But poll experts and LGBT activists in the state are accusing the pollsters of forcing out the [...]
Gov signs ban on partner benefits for unmarried public employees
Updated Jan. 2, 2012 LANSING – On Dec. 23 Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law HB 4770 which prohibits public employers from providing partner benefits to unmarried partners of public employees. There had been some speculation that Snyder [...]
2011: The most anti-gay legislature in Michigan history
LANSING – When the new GOP majorities took office on Jan. 1, it didn't take long for the red wave to begin introducing and pushing measures targeting the LGBT community and other progressive causes. And once the proposals began coming, there was a [...]
LCC won't fight partner benefits law
LANSING – The state's only community college to offer health care benefits to unmarried partners says it will not defend those benefits if Gov. Rick Snyder signs legislation which would ban them. Lansing Community College, which is the state's [...]
Bills to ban partner benefits for unmarried public employees on the governor's desk
Update Dec. 15, 2011 This statement was released from community leaders today: "This morning Gov. Snyder asked the Michigan State House to call back House Bills 4770 and 4771 and provide a specific clarification that the colleges and universities [...]
HIV at 30: Epidemic continues to try resources and government policy
LANSING – The HIV epidemic reached its 30th anniversary earlier this year, but in Michigan the battle against the crisis continues to be hampered by misguided and out of date policies and funding cuts. BY THE NUMBERS According to the October 2011 [...]
Michigan students drive change on anti-bullying legislation
LANSING – Students are driving lawmakers to make significant changes in legislation designed to eliminate bullying in Michigan schools. Katy Butler and Carson Borbely, Michigan students who say they have suffered bullying, launched a petition on [...]
Gleason protests lack of action on anti-bullying legislation
LANSING – A heated battle on the floor of the Michigan Senate Oct. 7 left State Sen. John Gleason (D-Flushing) so outraged that he spent Thursday night locked in the office of Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing). In an [...]
Appeals court says 'gay panic' is not self-defense
A Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that a man who attacked another man for unwanted sexual advances was rightly denied the use of "gay panic" as a defense strategy. In the case People of the State of Michigan v. Dale Edward Cutler out of Montcalm [...]