Governor Rick Snyder formally announced last week, that he is in favor of adding LGBT anti-discrimination protections to Michigan’s Elliot-Larson Act, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status or marital status.
Ironically, Governor Snyder is a defendant in the lawsuit of Jane and April DeBoer-Rowse, who successfully sued the state to be allowed to marry and jointly adopt the children they are raising together. Unfortunately, he stills shows no sign of abandoning the appeal of that ruling, or Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriages. But Governor Snyder, a self-made businessman who ran on the promise of jobs, was persuaded by the Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalitionthat LGBT worker protections would be good for business.
The Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition website says it is:
“…a partnership of business leaders representing companies large and small, associations and chambers of commerce who have come together around the goal of updating Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
The group is chaired by Jim Murray, the president of ATT Michigan, and its corporate members include big names in big business, like Dow Chemical Chrysler, Pfizer, Kellogg, Steelcase and Whirlpool.
Jeff Noel, Vice President of Whirlpool Corporationâ€
“In order for our state to continue to compete in the global marketplace and attract talent, it’s time for Michigan to catch up. Michigan has a tremendous opportunity to join business leaders in saying we value diversity and want to help attract and retain the best talent in this state.â€
With the governor’s approval, activists are now pulling out all the stops to see that “sexual orientation†and “gender identity†are added to the Elliott-Larsen Act next year. The ACLU promised to help, and The Human Rights Campaign has decided to hire a statewide field coordinator to help the cause:
HRC is making and investment in the effort by placing a statewide Field Coordinator in the state to work with the organizations helping to raise the voices of Michiganders to share why nondiscrimination protections are important to their lives. Candidates much have no less than one year of issue or candidate political organizing experience and have the ability to travel across the state.  This is a temporary position. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact me at Lynne.Bowman@hrc.org for further information.
The Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition is also looking for volunteers to get involved. If you want to help, here’s where you can get started.