Rolling Stone Throws a Rock at Michigan on LGBT Issues

Ouch.

Rolling Stone magazine says that if you’re lesbian, gay, transgendered or bisexual in America, Michigan is one of the last places you want to live.

You don’t want to live in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana or Texas, either. That’s according “The 5 Worst States for LGBT People” compiled by iconic magazine and arbiter of all things cool.

Michigan, the magazine’s editors have decided, isn’t cool when it comes to gay folk.

Michigan was included on the list dominated by states in the South, “winning” out over Tennessee and North Dakota, where only a handful of residents identify themselves as LGBT.

Conversely, Michigan has a higher percentage of LGBT residents, but also a disproportionately high hate crime rate that one survey suggested was the second-highest in the nation and might be even higher if state law classified violence against LGBT individuals as a hate crime.

Rolling Stone included a litany of other things its editors think are terrible about Michigan, including a 2012 survey you won’t find on the state’s Pure Michigan travel and tourism website and that officials with the Affirmations LGBT community center in Ferndale crticized as unfair. They survey, from Alternative Luxury Travel by Bruvion, claimed Detroit was the most dangerous city in America for gay travelers.

It’s also still illegal for gay couples to marry – unless the U.S. Supreme Court rules otherwise. There’s more, but the bottom line is this, says Rolling Stone:

“Michigan might be America’s mitten, but it’s beginning to look a lot like Texas.”

Tell Us:

• Do you agree, or is Rolling Stone unfairly stirring things up?

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Photo: Getty Images