Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield has made it clear that there will be no action taken by lawmakers under his watch to expand the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include specific protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. To that end, it remains up to local communities to enact ordinances, and the city of St. Joseph is moving toward that.
Monday night, the commission unanimously approved the first reading of the non-discrimination ordinance while directing City Attorney Laurie Schmidt to make some changes before it’s up for a final vote regarding the definition of sexual orientation addressing the phrase “by orientation or practice.” That change was suggested by OutCenter executive director Mary Jo Schnell, who spoke with WSJM News after the vote to advance the ordinance.
“Just phenomenal,” said Schnell. “There have been so many people who have approached me to say ‘We hope that St. Joe thing goes through, because maybe our town could be next.’”
There was a comment during Monday’s city commission meeting from someone who supports the move, but wondered how prevalent the problem is. Schnell had this reaction.
“They don’t see it because people aren’t talking about it, but I’ll tell you something. They call us. It happens.”
Schnell says while it’s not talked about a lot, problems are growing nationwide and hate crimes against all marginalized are up 17% since the 2016 election. “We have seen new records set of transgender women killed,” added Schnell.
St. Joseph would be the first in the area to approve an ordinance and the 45th statewide. The document is based on several of the other NDOs already in place in communities such as Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Ann Arbor.
