The next election won’t just decide the future of reproductive rights, it will decide if the 20th century can be repealed Abigail Fisher was denied admission to the University of Texas, a school that’s more selective than Harvard, because her academic record wasn’t good enough. She sued because a handful of minority students along with 42 white students were granted […]

This week the Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 13, a bill that would eliminate the option of straight-ticket voting on Michigan ballots. While they claim it’s to make us all “more responsible” voters, the obvious intent is to make it just that more difficult to vote in Michigan. In fact, Progress Michigan recently showed how […]

When I wrote up my piece following Monday night’s LGBTQ forum in Ann Arbor where a community forum took place on the topic of a ballot initiative for LGBTQ civil rights, I indicated that Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson had helped to write the ballot language. That statement came from civil rights attorney Dana Nessel’s opening remarks: […]

The guest post was written by Sommer Foster, the Political Director for Equality Michigan and a long time political activist. You can follow her on Twitter at @SNFoster. I used to be a self-proclaimed ally. I had a gay best friend. I had gay and lesbian family members. I voted against the gay marriage ban. I pushed back against homophobic […]

Today a Republican-led House Elections Committee voted to eliminate the ability for people in Michigan to cast one vote for all of the candidates in a given political party with one vote. These “get big government out of my life” conservatives are only against rules and regulations when they aren’t benefiting them and they know that creating long waits, longer […]

By April of 2014, at least eight Washtenaw County-area schools had pledged not to accept student teachers from Eastern Michigan University’s College of Education program until EMU ended its interlocal agreement with Gov. Rick Snyder’s failed experiment on Detroit school kids – the Education Achievement Authority – and disengaged from the EAA entirely. Yesterday, the Washtenaw County Education Association renewed […]

Lack of insurance coverage means many kids won’t get help for their hearing impairment, which is linked to serious risks. When it comes to advocating for important issues, Barb Byrum is a pro. The Michigan Ingham County Clerk and former state Representative is not shy about speaking out on behalf of people who may not otherwise be heard. So it’s […]

Oh, my… Former staffers for ousted tea party philanderers Cindy Gamrat and Todd Courser have filed a federal lawsuit against the Republican leadership of the Michigan State House of Representatives claiming they were wrongfully terminated. The 36-page lawsuit, which you can read HERE, outlines repeated attempts by Ben Graham and Keith Allard to alert House Speaker Kevin Cotter and the […]

Sen. Dave Robertson (R-Grand Blanc Township) is the chairman of the Senate Elections and Government Reform Committee. You would think that a man in that position would be working night and day to figure out how to make voting as easy as possible so that we would have more Michiganders participating in the democracy that is the bedrock of our […]

With the deadline to get insurance starting January 1 coming up on December 15 the time to act is now. Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), LGBT people faced significant discrimination in access to healthcare. That all changed with the passage of the law fondly known as Obamacare, and the uninsured rate for LGBT people has reached an all-time low. […]

This guest post comes from Sean McElwee — a research associate at Demos and an excellent follow on Twitter. Find out more about Sean and his work by checking out his most recent post for Eclectablog. Also be sure to follow Brian Schaffner on Twitter @b_schaffner. In my latest Salon column, I explore a new working paper by political scientists […]