Interlochen Public Radio (IPR) is reporting that some new LGBT protections have shown up as an amendment in the most unlikely place of state legislation:
Michigan gay rights activists are celebrating an unlikely victory tucked away in a package of bills signed this week by Governor Rick Snyder to fund emergency harbor dredging across the state.
One bill says private marinas are eligible for a new loan program if they don’t discriminate based on sexual orientation – along with other factors like race and religious beliefs.
The ACLU of Michigan’s Shelli Weisberg says it’s very rare to find protections for the LGBT community in Michigan law.
“That’s a big first step,” Weisberg says. “And that’s a big recognition for the LGBT community that legislators don’t look at the words ‘sexual orientation’ as poison.”