There may not be any votes in the state Legislature this session to expand the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Attempts have been made in the past. But on WKAR’s Off the Record, Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield said he probably wouldn’t put any similar attempts up for a vote.
“Personally I don’t believe people should be discriminated against. But at the same time I’m never going to endorse a law or allow a bill to come for a vote that I believe infringes on someone’s ability to exercise their sincerely held religious beliefs.
Chatfield says he doesn’t believe there is a lot of discrimination based on sexual orientation.
But LGBTQ advocates disagree and they say arguments like Chatfield’s use religious beliefs as an excuse to discriminate.