MI Supreme Court Protects LGBTQ+​ Community Against Sex Discrimination

MICHIGAN — The Michigan Supreme Court said Thursday a state's civil rights law bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, a landmark win for the win for the LGBTQ+ community.

Justices said in the 5-2 ruling that the word "sex" as defined in the 1976 Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act applies to gender identity and not just gender.

"The determination of sexual orientation involves both the sex of the individual and the sex of their preferred partner; referring to these considerations jointly as ‘sexual orientation’ does not remove sex from the calculation," Justice Elizabeth Clement said in the decision.

The case eventually made its way up to the court when the Michigan Department of Civil Rights began looking into why two separate Michigan businesses denied services to a gay couple and a transgender person in 2019.

In 2018, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights said the word "sex" in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act pertained to a person's gender identity and sexual orientation, instead of just a person's gender.

Therefore, the organization launched in investigation into Rouch World, a 300-acre park and wedding venue in Sturgis, after they refused to host a gay wedding ceremony because of their religious beliefs. The group also began looking into why a Marquette business also denied servicing a customer based on religious beliefs as well.

Attorneys for Rouch World challenged the Michigan Department of Civil Rights' investigation and its interpretation of the word "sex" in a lawsuit. Moreover, attorneys said the concise definition of the word "sex" in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act should be left to lawmakers.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is the state's first openly gay state attorney general, celebrated the decision Thursday, but noted courts have to enshrine the rights into law before future courts attempt to constitute "barriers to employment, housing, education, or public accommodations and services because of who they are or whom they love."

"Our residents deserve to live in a state that recognizes the value of diversity and rejects the notion that our own civil rights law could be used as a tool of discrimination," Nessel said. "This ruling is not only a victory for the LGBTQ+ community, but for all Michigan residents, and one that’s long overdue."

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the decision made Michigan "more free and fair than it was yesterday."

"This is a monumental victory that ensures our LGBTQ+ community is seen equally by state law and protected by it," Whitmer said. "If we’re going to attract the talented workforce our businesses need to create jobs and grow our economy, then we’ve got to get on the right side of history."

While dissenting justices said have no problems with the merits of the policy, they argued the court violated the state Constitution's separation of powers clause by amending a law without lawmakers or a petition through the people.

"This court’s duty is to say what the law is, not what it thinks the law ought to be," Republican Justice Brian Zahra wrote. "But this is exactly what a majority of this court has done here."