Tell Your State Rep. to Support Bill to Protect LGBTQ People vs. Discrimination

By MUUSJN on Friday, November 15th, 2019

Call Your State Representative

Click HERE to Find Your State Representative

Tell your Representative to call for a hearing on HB 5139 in the Government Operations Committee to Expand Ethnic Intimidation Law to Protect LGBTQ People

On October 23rd, State Representative Tim Sneller introduced HB 5139, a bill to provide protections against ethnic intimidation to persons based on their gender identity and their sexual orientation. On October 29th, MUUSJN’s Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition voted unanimously to issue this alert to call for hearings on HB 5139. Ethnic intimidation involves maliciously seeking to: intimidate or harass another person; physically contact a person; ordamage their property.

Discrimination Toward LGBT People in Michigan Is a Serious Problem

Right now Michigan’s Ethnic Intimidation law protects people based on their: race, color, religion, gender or national origin. According to an April 2019 study from the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, “The impact of Stigma and Discrimination against LGBT People in Michigan”,”Michigan’s legal landscape and social climate put the state’s 311,000 LGBT adults and its 61,000 LGBT youth at risk of discrimination and harassment”. Click HERE for more information.

According to “A Statewide Study of LGBTQ Attitudes and Experiences: Challenges and Concerns” (Morrison and McComack, 2012), 55% of LGBT and LGBT allied Michigan residents reported experiencing some form of discrimination based on their sexual orientation. A 2017 GLSEN National School Climate Survey (2017) documented that 72% of Michigan middle and high school students said they had experienced verbal harassment based on their sexual orientation at school.

The Public & Religious Groups Support Laws that Would Protect LGBT People

Not only is discrimination a significant problem that affects the well-being of LGBTQ communities, but majorities of the American public across all both political and geographic lines support laws that protect LGBT people. See report (Daniel Greenberg, Et al, 3/12/19) “Americans Show Broad Support for LGBT Nondiscrimination Protections”. Nearly 7 of 10 (69%) of all Americans favor laws that would protect LGBT people from discrimination in the job market, public accommodations and housing. Click HERE for study. More than three-quarters of younger Americans (18-29) favor such laws. Self identified moderate Republicans (69%) and 53% of self-identified conservative Republicans favor non-discrimination protections for LGBT people. Solid majorities of all major religious groups in the U.S. favor state laws that protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing, public accommodations and the work place.

Concluding Remarks

So the majority of people Michigan’s LGBTQ community reported experiencing discrimination based on their sexual orientation. And a majority of the American public, including Democrats and Republicans and including all major religious groups, report that they support state laws that will protect LGBT people from discrimination. Supporting HB 5139 is an important step toward addressing this problem that should be taken seriously. This bill was sent to the House Government Operations Committee. It needs to be discussed and acted upon.

Call YOUR State Representative & the House Government Operations Committee

(especially the Chair of the Committee, Rep. Jason Sheppard)
  • Rep. Jason Sheppard (Committee Chair – R 56th District): 517-373-2617
  • Rep. Triston Cole (Majority Vice Chair 105th District): 517-373-0829
  • Rep. Jim Lilly (R- 89th District) 517-373-0838
  • Rep. Christine Greig (D-Minority Vice Chair 37th District): 517-373-1793
  • Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D-53rd District) 517-373-2577

TELL THEM:

  1. The majority of all Americans support laws to protect LGBT people;
  2. The great majority of young people want protection from LGBT discrimination;
  3. HB 5139 would update Michigan’s ethnic intimidation law to provide a legal recourse for people from LGBTQ communities;
  4. Hold a hearing on HB 5139!

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