Michigan’s Republican-led state Senate stalled action Tuesday on a resolution to recognize June of this year as “LGBTQ Pride Month” in the state.
The Senate’s only openly gay member – Democrat Jeremy Moss – blasted the foot-dragging as an insult to LGBTQ Michiganders, including legislative staffers working for both parties.
“No matter the progress, no matter the growing support, the Republican leadership will never stand for LGBTQ equality,” he said.
The resolution is non-binding and would not change any government policy or the state’s civil rights law, which does not explicitly mention LGBTQ rights.
“It doesn’t change any law – although we should, and it doesn’t cost you anything,” he said. “And when it was finally adopted last year, no one’s marriage dissolved because of it, no business shuttered, and no church lost its religious freedom.”
Moss is referring to a similar non-binding resolution to recognize “Pride Month” adopted by the Senate in 2021.
This year’s resolution was also co-sponsored by three Republicans, one of whom said it’s only a matter of time before a GOP majority is on board.
“It shouldn’t be about discrimination on who you love and who you want to be,” said Republican Senator Wayne Schmidt. “We need to come together as Michiganders. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what we do here in the Midwest. We want to be inclusive.”
Schmidt said his position also respects that there are legislative Republican staff who identify as LGBTQ who work every day with lawmakers.
June is traditionally acknowledged as Pride Month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising following a police raid on a gay bar New York City’s Greenwich Village.