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 […]

[NOTE: This piece has been edited to correct a claim that Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson had helped draft the ballot language. This statement, based on civil rights attorney Dana Nessel’s opening remarks, was, apparently, inaccurate. I have corrected this post and issued a correction with audio HERE.] Last night, the Jim Toy LGBTQ Community Center sponsored […]

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. […]

Today, November 20th, is International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). TDOR was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The day is intended to bring awareness to the violence experienced by the transgender community on a daily basis. The trans community faces […]

According to a Utah judge, foster children are better of with opposite-sex parents and, due to his unfounded belief, has removed the child they had planned to adopt from the home of Beckie Peirce and April Hoagland who are married. “We love her and she loves us, and we haven’t done anything wrong,” Peirce told the Salt Lake Tribune. “And […]

As I reported earlier this week, a group headed up by civil rights attorney Dana Nessel has formed to put civil rights for the LGBT community on the ballot in 2016. Nessel’s group, Fair Michigan, will submit petition language and then collect signatures for a ballot proposal that will enshrine civil rights like employment and housing equality in the state […]

As we all know by now, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s crusade against marriage equality ran up a multimillion dollar bill for Michigan taxpayers. Schuette’s office was ordered to pay the court costs and attorney fees for the Michigan defendants in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality U.S. Supreme Court case totalling $1.9 million. This is addition to the […]

Transgender advocates are urged to be at U.S. District Court in Detroit to show their support. Earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of State challenging a department policy that makes it impossible for many transgender individuals to correct the gender on their driver’s licenses and other […]

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 […]

Feminist activist Mira Krishnan celebrates the many viewpoints coming together for a good cause. Women make up 51 percent of America’s population, so why aren’t we a bigger force to be reckoned with? That’s a question many of us have been asking. But Mira Krishnan may just have the answer — and if she’s right, Lady Parts Justice could be […]

The following essay was written by my friend Roscoe Woods, president of the American Postal Workers Union, 480-4781 Area Local which represents postal workers in the southeast part of the state. A version of it first appeared in their newsletter The Communicator over the summer. I particularly love this piece because it tells a personal story of acceptance of an […]