Public Media from Michigan State University

Religious Protection Bill Teed Up For House Vote

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A bill that’s supposed to protect people exercising sincerely held religious beliefs has been approved by the state House. It now goes to the state Senate.

The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta reports.

The bill was brought up right after House Speaker Jase Bolger declared the effort to add LGBT protections to Michigan’s civil rights law dead. State Representative Jeff Irwin and other Democrats oppose the bill. He says this would make it easier to discriminate against LGBT people.

“There are some folks out there who feel they need a legal protection for their discrimination against members of the LGBT community, and that’s what this is really, fundamentally all about,” he says.

The LGBT civil rights bill stalled over a standoff on whether its protections should extend to transgender people.

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Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.