Farmington Hills May Flush Language in Proposed Human Rights Code

Farmington Hills city officials appear poised to flush the wording in a proposed human rights ordinance over concerns the current language would arbitrarily dictate who can use what restroom.

The legislation before the Farmington Hills City Council is intended protect residents against discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and other areas, but council members are struggling with the definition of gender, the Observer & Eccentric reports.

One of the unresolved questions surrounds which public restrooms would be used by individuals who are “transitioning” to the other gender?

As currently proposed, those born females would use women’s restrooms, and those born males would use men’s restrooms, regardless of where they are in the process of a gender change.

“Transgendered has nothing to do with your parts,” said City Councilwoman Samantha Steckloff, who thinks the definition of gender in the draft before officials is too narrow.

“It has to do with your hormones, how you feel,” she said.

Steckloff supports an approach taken by Ann Arbor officials, who added gender identity and gender expression in its definitions in a pioneering ordinance passed in 1972. The Michigan Daily said that as the ordinance now stands, it’s more comprehensive any other in the United States, including Berkeley, CA; Boulder, CO; and Austin, TX.

Adding gender expression and gender identity to the Farmington Hills law could create some unanticipated problems, Councilwoman Valerie Knol warned. She said exceptions should be made so a teenaged boy who “identifies” as a female isn’t permitted in a girls’ camp, and implored leaders to “think this through.”

“We have to look at all the organizations and how it could affect them,” Knol said.

Farmington Hills City Attorney Steve Joppich is expected to present revised language at the Nov. 24 City Council meeting.

If the legislation is eventually approved, Farmington Hills would join more than 40 Michigan communities that have passed human rights ordinances. Adding protections for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act would ensure laws are consistent across the state, Mayor Pro-Tem Ken Massey said.

A coalition of business and civil rights leaders is lobbying the Legislature to expand the law and some Republican lawmakers support the effort, but face opposition from others in their caucus who worry such a change would infringe on people’s religious beliefs, Michigan Radio reports.

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Photo: Laura Ritchie/Flickr