Religious Freedom threatened by proposed changes to Michigan Civil Rights law
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers has approved petition language for a ballot initiative that would amend the state Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.
The Fair and Equal Michigan initiative would amend the current law by defining “sex” as including “gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.” It would also define “religion” as including “the religious beliefs of an individual.”
Fair and Equal Michigan, an extremely liberal LGBTQ+ advocacy group, now has until May 27 to collect 340,047 valid signatures required to bring the issue in front of the state legislature.
The leaders of Michigan’s legislature have indicated that the proposed changes to Michigan’s current civil rights law would take away the rights of people of faith, adversely affecting religious freedom in Michigan.
However, this liberal group is seeking to undermine the rights of people of faith with a petition drive to gather the necessary 340,000+ signatures so that they can put their proposed changes to a vote by the people of Michigan in November.
Guest: Chuck Vizthum, FRC Michigan
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