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Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., #110, Southfield, MI 48034. OUR JN MISSION 1942 - 2019 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week jn views 6 June 20 • 2019 jn A t the time of its passage in 1976, the purpose of the Michigan Civil Rights Act (also known as the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act), was to give all Michigan citizens, primarily African Americans, recourse through the Michigan Department of Civil Rights Enforcement Division if they believed they had been discriminated against. It was also equally important to develop edu- cational programs to help citizens better understand acts of discrimi- nation and how to avoid such acts. Nowhere in the Michigan Civil Right Act does it say certain groups or individuals shall be excluded from protection against discrimi- nation. The intent of the Michigan Civil Right Act is to include all cit- izens. Article 5 section 29 of the Michigan Constitution of 1964 created an independent Civil Right Commission responsible for oversight, enforcement and mon- itoring of civil rights in the state of Michigan. The majority of the current commissioners believes the Michigan Civil Rights Act includes all citizens and citizen groups, including the LGBT community. They so stated by resolution this past year. The LGBT community has every right as citizens of the state of Michigan to be protected from dis- crimination under this act. To include LGBT community in the Michigan Civil Rights Act, it must be amended by the legislature to include sexual orientation and gender identity. For more than a decade, the majority leadership in both the Michigan House and Senate have refused to address the issue of sex- ual orientation and gender identity being added to the Michigan Civil Right Act. They have chosen to sim- ply not put it on their agenda. Recently, bills have been once again introduced in both the House and Senate to include sexual ori- entation and gender identity to the Michigan Civil Rights Act. This is a public issue that needs to be addressed. It is time for the majority leadership in the legisla- ture to stop saying no to this item and put the sexual orientation and gender identity bills on their agen- da. Start scheduling public hearings across the state and let the public be heard. Be they individuals, corpo- rations, religious leaders, the LGBT community, educators or special interest groups, bring them all to the table. Recent polls indicate adding sexu- al orientation and gender identity to the Michigan Civil Right Act is sup- ported by an overwhelming major- ity of Michigan citizens. Public hearings will prove or disprove this statement. ■ See related stories on pages 10 and 16. Mel Larsen, a Republican representative, and Daisy Elliott, a Democratic representative, co-sponsored Michigan’ s landmark Michigan Civil Rights Act, also known as the Elliott- Larsen Civil Rights Act, in 1976. Larsen is also a former Michigan Republican Party chairman. guest column Legislative Leaders: It’s Time To Act on LGBT Protections Mel Larsen letters A Woman of Vision We at National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan (NCJW | MI), were thrilled to see your cover on the June 6 issue. Jackie Victor is a true gift to our community and, for her many contri- butions, she is being honored by NCJW | MI with the Woman of Vision Award at our annual Women of Vision Benefit Luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Adat Shalom Synagogue. We will also be honoring Lisa Lis with the Josephine S. Weiner Community Service Award. Our keynote speaker will be Dahlia Lithwick, contributing editor at Newsweek and editor at Slate.com. We are pleased to be able to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of these women. Jennifer LoPatin President, National Council of Jewish Women, Michigan Jewish Unity I read the recent letter in the Jewish News (May 30, page 5) and I didn’ t know whether to laugh or cry. It started out as a call for the Jewish people to unite together, as we should, in order to fight the evils that are against us around the world. But the call for unity gets ruined by the writer railing against Jewish groups that tend to be more pro- gressive than he is. I am a proud member of the Democratic Party, J Street, Ameinu, If continued on page 9 Arthur M. Horwitz Executive Editor/Publisher ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. 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