Michigan Governor Rick Snyder made a brief but pointed push for gay rights Tuesday, asking his fellow Republicans not to drop the ball on an anti-discrimination law.
During a State of the State address marking his fifth year as governor, Snyder called for legislators to continue discussions on amending Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The law prohibits discrimination based on race, age, sex, religion and more, but does not offer protections based on sexual orientation.
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Instead, he’s argued that gay couples who married during a brief lifting of Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban do not have legal rights (an opinion made moot by a federal judge’s ruling last week), and stayed silent as the state’s attorney general argued in legal proceedings that the marriage ban should remain intact. And with a legislature leaning further right than last session, Snyder’s comment during the State of the State address won’t necessarily spur changes to the civil rights law.
Same-sex marriage, however, may become legal in Michigan. Last week, the Supreme Court announced it would hear a case from a lesbian couple challenging the constitutionality of the state’s gay marriage ban. The case — along with three others — could potentially determine the fate of gay marriage nationwide.
