On Sunday, Eli Savit posted an essay here at Eclectablog outlining why Bill Schuette — Michigan’s own version of the odious Ken Cuccinelli — was out of line telling the state’s Civil Rights Commission that they couldn’t enforce their policy of including gender identity and sexual orientation as a protected class of citizens. Yesterday, the Civil Rights Commission met to […]

The following essay was written by my good friend Eli Savit. Eli is an attorney and an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School. His areas of expertise include appellate and Supreme Court litigation; civil rights, education law, environmental law, and public-interest litigation. He writes regularly about legal issues on the Take Care Blog and elsewhere. Follow him […]

Most governors with a history of poisoning an entire city of Black people, an administration full of corruption and ineptitude, and with a laundry list of pro-corporate policies that have harmed the state in myriad ways would probably spend their final months in office being as non-controversial and quiet as possible. Not so with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. Despite his […]

This transgender woman soared into a brave new world and isn’t looking back. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. The day Ellie Webster decided to begin transitioning from the male body she was assigned at birth, she knew it was a leap of faith. But it was a leap […]

Dana Nessel, the rock star Michigan attorney who was part of the legal team that made same-sex marriage the law of the land in the USA, has formed a ballot committee to collect signatures to put changing the state constitution to protect members of the LGBT community to voters in 2016. If passed, the measure would then compel state legislators […]

Earlier this week, House Republicans held a hearing on H.B. 4052, a bill that would prohibit local governments from passing employment-related ordinances that are more restrictive than state-level laws. Although it is called the “Local Government Employer Mandate Prohibition Act”, it really should be referred to as the “Local Government Control Prohibition Act” because it strips what is commonly known […]

Republicans have successfully branded themselves as the party that worships “local governmental control”. They want federal regulations repealed and the power given to the states on all sorts of things from the environment to the Affordable Care Act. But, when it comes to actual local control, where local municipalities set their own rules, the whole idea of “local governmental control” […]

In a move that demonstrates the Democratic principle of fairness for all, lawmakers seek update to Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. In a press conference today, members of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses urged an update of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) that will protect Michiganders from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Placing LGBT […]

Senate Families, Seniors and Human Services Committee to meet on bills that would allow adoption agencies to refuse placement of children based on religious objections. Once again, the Michigan Legislature isn’t wasting any time moving forward with bills that could hurt Michigan children and families, and the voices of Michiganders who oppose faith-based discrimination need to be heard. On Wednesday, […]

Michigan’s Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger has been paying lip service to the LGBT community by saying that he supports expanding civil rights protects to them as long as it (a) doesn’t include transgender Michiganders and (b) is accompanied by a “license to discriminate” bill that allows anyone who wants to deny basic services to gays, lesbians, or bisexuals the […]

Reliable sources in Lansing have informed me that expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act is dead in the water in 2014 and will not be voted on during the lame duck session. According to the source, Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger says neither version of the expansion bill – one that includes transgender Michiganders and one that doesn’t – […]