Michigan House passes LGBTQ Pride resolution after Senate effort stalls
The Michigan House cleared a resolution recognizing LGBTQ Pride on Tuesday, breaking rank with Senate leadership who declined to take up a similar measure earlier this month.
House Resolution 322 was adopted via voice vote by the Republican-majority chamber during Tuesday’s session and designates the week of June 28 through July 3 as “Pride Week,” outlining the history of Pride and acknowledging LGBTQ communities’ contributions to the state.
It’s the second year in a row the House has approved a similar resolution during Pride Month. The resolution, like last year’s version, encourages Michigan to "expand all efforts to attract and retain talent and signal to the nation we are welcoming to all" and notes contributions of gay and transgender residents.
Related: Michigan GOP rejects LGBT Pride resolution, wants 'lifestyle' disclaimer
The resolution explains that Pride celebrations started in 1970, the one-year anniversary of New York City’s Stonewall Riots, which began when a black transgender woman and others "risked their lives to protest the over-policing of the LGBTQ community.”
The House vote comes a week after Republican leadership in the Senate refused to take up a similar measure on the floor, instead referring a resolution recognizing June 2022 as Pride Month to Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey's Government Operations Committee.
Shirkey, R-Clarklake, said in a statement provided to Bridge Michigan through his office last week that he had “made suggestions” to Senate sponsor Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, for amendments to make the resolution “more reflective of the diversity of opinions in the Senate.”
Shirkey wanted to replace language specific to the LGBT community with references to valuing "all" Michigan residents, and he proposed removing language about the government's "low and insufficient" response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and civil rights, Moss told Bridge.
But most concerning to him, Moss said, was a disclaimer Shirkey wanted to add: "Though not every citizen in Michigan agrees with the lifestyle of the LGBT community, it is agreed that every life is special, precious, unique and loved by the the creator, and each person is created in God's image."
Moss refused the addition, calling it a "negative" statement about LGBTQ residents that implies being gay is a choice.
"I will not be gaslit that this is my problem," Moss said of the resolution's failure to pass the Senate. "I did not change the stakes. I did not move the goalposts. They did."
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