News & Commentary

Despite the recent landmark Supreme Court ruling in favor of the freedom to marry, the road to full equality for everyone in our state continues to be pocked with obstacles. Few obstacles currently loom as large as the potential danger of SB 4, the "religious freedom restoration act" (RFRA) now being debated in the state legislature.

With summertime in full swing, the House is on break through August—but the Senate will be working a least through the end of June. Senate leadership scheduled the summer session so that they could advance a road funding plan, and if that plan is approved I suspect they will take the remainder of the summer off as well.

Marriage equality came to the U.S. when the Supreme Court handed down the Obergefell v Hodges decision. This ruling was the culmination of decades of effort by lesbian, gay and bisexual communities to be viewed with equal dignity and respect by our society. That victory didn’t come without first winning the hearts and minds of more than 60 percent of the American public.

Still No Movement on Roads

It took a while for LeeAnne Walters to realize the full impact of the number: 13,200.

In a place that bills itself the Great Lakes State, you'd think people would understand and appreciate the universally critical importance of water.

Adopting Hate

For many, there are certain chapters in U.S. history that are much too painful to contemplate. Foremost among them are the enslavement of literally millions of Africans, and campaigns of genocide and territorial theft directed at America’s First Nations. Some who are descended from the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity, or who suspect they may be descendants may have the most discomfort, and their coping strategy is often a descent into a chronic state of denial.

I walked into the ACLU of Michigan offices eight years ago with a small afro—three-fourths of an inch to be exact—and only a vague, abstract understanding of words such as freedom and justice.