"LANSING — Supporters of amending Michigan's constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity cleared an initial procedural step Tuesday when the state elections board approved the format of their petition.
The Fair Michigan ballot committee now must gather about 315,000 valid voter signatures by summer to put the initiative on the November statewide ballot....The state constitution bars discrimination because of religion, race, color or national origin.
The amendment would add gender, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation protections.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has blocked legislation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to a civil rights law, prohibiting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents in employment, housing and places open to the public.
Equality Michigan supports continuing to lobby legislators for the next three or four years instead of pursuing the 2016 ballot measure, Executive Director Steph White said.
"The whole LGBT movement is pretty united on that path," she said. "None of the (poll) numbers I've seen indicated any hope for this to win."
The landslide defeat in November of a nondiscrimination ordinance in Houston has left LGBT-rights activists bracing for their opponents to seize on the successful tactic of stoking fears over transgender people's access to public restrooms..."
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