Anti-Bias Crime Legislation

Talking Points

We desire to amend Michigan's civil rights laws to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Otherwise known as the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

Elliott-Larsen provides protection from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Currently, the protected categories are: religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, and marital status. There is no state or federal law prohibiting discrimination because of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression; adding these to the list of protected classes of people would provide civil rights protections statewide.

The Elliott-Larsen law is frozen in time from the era in which it was written (the 1970s) and hasn't been amended to keep up with changes in society since then.  While we long for the day when laws like Elliott-Larsen would be unnecessary, until that day comes, laws need to be kept up to date as society evolves and new forms of discrimination emerge.  Until Elliott-Larsen is amended to reflect 21 st century realities, it's a holdover from the past that risks becoming both irrelevant and unenforceable.  When Elliott-Larsen was signed into law, sexual orientation and gender identity hadn't emerged as areas of discrimination.  Today, they are recognized, and the law needs to keep up.

A hate crime occurs when the perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim because of the way a victim acts or appears. While violent hate crimes are a widespread and serious problem in our nation, it is not the frequency or number of violent hate crimes alone that distinguish these acts of violence from other types of crime. A random act of violence resulting in injury or even death is a tragic event that devastates the lives of the victim and their family, but the intentional selection and beating or murder of an individual because of who they are terrorizes an entire community and sometimes the nation. A 2006, Harris Interactive poll found that 64 percent of gays and lesbians are concerned about being the victim of a bias-motivated crime.

Michigan currently has an ethnic intimidation act on the books. The change that is being asked in the current legislation is an amendment to the law, now a new law. Nor is it solely about gay rights; it's about being able to live without fear.