News & Commentary

For decades transgender people have been fired or turned away from jobs just because of who they are. Courts and federal agencies are finally starting to recognize this for what it is — illegal sex discrimination — and they’re holding employers accountable.But now, a Michigan funeral home is trying to turn back the clock by claiming that this country’s religious freedom protections give it a license to discriminate against transgender employees. As we explain in our recently filed friend-of-the-court brief, religious freedom doesn’t give employers a free pass to evade our civil rights laws, whether those laws are being used to remedy discrimination against women, people of color, or transgender individuals.

ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – May 2, 2016

Near the end of March, legislators and the governor of North Carolina jammed through the now infamous HB2 “bathroom bill” mandating that transgender people use only those restrooms that match their assigned sex at birth.  Immediately, there was uproar from business, LGBTQ advocates, constitutional law scholars and everyday ordinary people, who saw through the ridiculous idea that transgender people are somehow dangerous and need to be swept into segregated spaces.

In 2015, to mark the first anniversary of Flint’s fateful switch to river water, about 100 Flint residents marched through their city’s downtown in protest.

ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – April 21, 2016

Through the years, the ACLU of Michigan has led the charge in a variety of impactful crusades against racial injustice. Not least among them have been lawsuits to save affirmative action, overhaul Michigan’s public defender system, hold predatory lenders accountable and abolish juvenile life sentences without parole. These, and comparable projects, demand a considerable investment of financial and human resources, and often require the cooperation and collaboration of outside lawyers, law firms, legislative advocates and allied non-profit organizations. Much of value is accomplished by these efforts.

Does religious freedom include the right to discriminate? The first amendment says you and your religious exercise are protected rights. But practicing your faith can’t come at the expense of other people’s well-being, public safety, and taxpayer dollars.

When I began writing a series of stories chronicling the lives of transgender people, my goal was to help educate the public. Yet I’m learning just as much in the process.