FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
March 1, 2023
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Michigan’s Pro-Equality Majority Celebrates as ELCRA Expansion Clears Senate Vote
Major step toward LGBTQ+ civil rights passes after decades of work by community & allies
MICHIGAN – On Wednesday, the Michigan Senate approved a bill to add gender identity and sexual orientation as protected categories under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA). The following response can be attributed to Sam Inglot, deputy director of Progress Michigan:
“For decades now, LGBTQ+ lawmakers, activists and their allies have worked to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, and the Republican Party stopped them at every turn. But with our new, hard-won progressive majority, the wait for equal protections under the law for the LGBTQ+ community is almost over. LGBTQ+ Michiganders are valued members of our communities who deserve to be able to live openly and authentically without fear of discrimination and they have been denied these freedoms for far too long. We hope this bill moves quickly through the rest of the legislature and gets to Gov. Whitmer’s desk as soon as possible. Expanding the ELCRA is an enormous win delivered by generations of lawmakers and advocates who have worked tirelessly to make our state more inclusive, and we join the majority of Michiganders in celebrating it—but our work doesn’t end here. We remain committed to fighting back against anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda and supporting safe, inclusive education in our schools, and we will not let LGBTQ+ people in other states be left behind.”
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