There’s no decision yet on whether the Legislature will take up the question of adding gay rights to the state’s civil rights law.
As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, there are only a few weeks left in the Legislature’s “lame duck” session.
All bills before the Legislature die once the “lame duck” wraps up, and would have to be re-introduced in the new session that begins next year. It’s not clear if there’s enough Republican support to get the LGBT rights bill through the Legislature. There’s also a difference of opinion on whether the bill will protect only gays and lesbians, or also transgender people.
Shelli Weisberg of the American Civil Liberties Union says a less-inclusive bill is a non-starter.
“We’re trying as hard as we can to put it up there to prove we have the votes,” she says. “If in the end, we lose on those votes, we lose on those votes, but at least it got a chance.”
If that happens, Weisberg says the coalition of business and civil rights groups will try again, and might decide to take the issue to the ballot.