Equality for All

All Michiganders deserve the freedom to feel safe and welcome in their communities. I am committed to ensuring our policies are inclusive in the Michigan legislature.

Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act

The Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act must be expanded, and I support HB 4688 and SB 351 to add sexual orientation and gender identity or expression to the existing protected classes within the Act. No one should ever be discriminated against - for any reason - and we need to ensure all Michiganders, regardless of belief, have the same opportunities.

Transgender Rights

Michigan law puts unnecessary barriers in the way of transgender people seeking identity documents matching their gender identities. For instance, changing the gender on an adult’s birth certificate requires an affidavit from a doctor that the person has had surgery. This is out of line with the requirements of the federal government and many other states, and it puts Michigan-born transgender people at a serious disadvantage in acquiring the documents needed for participation in modern life. I will support legislation to repeal the surgical requirement for state identity documents.

Inclusive Michigan for All
All too often, young people in our community are faced with challenges that we do not and cannot see. The internal struggle, societal pressures, and stigma associated with their identity can never be fully described or fully understood by those of us who do not share that identity. At the impressionable young age, it is our responsibility to ensure that young people, like my two incredible boys, grow up in an inclusive, safe environment that embraces us not in spite of our differences, but because of them.