Ballot Initiative Approved

In Michigan the constitution ballot initiative to include sexual orientation and gender identity protections is approved.

Michigan Elections Board Approves Formatting Of Gay Rights Petition
Detroit CBS
December 30, 2015

LANSING (AP) – Supporters of amending Michigan’s constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity cleared an initial procedural step Tuesday when the state elections board approved the format of their petition.

The Fair Michigan ballot committee now must gather roughly 315,000 valid voter signatures by summer to put the initiative on the November statewide ballot. But it must do so without the backing of major gay rights advocacy groups such as Equality Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union. Those organizations oppose the 2016 measure because they worry voters will defeat it, and they want to focus on other approaches, including lobbying lawmakers for new legislation.

And their worries are well founded,

The landslide defeat in November of a nondiscrimination ordinance in Houston has left LGBT-rights activists bracing for their opponents to seize on the successful tactic of stoking fears over transgender people’s access to public restrooms. White said the LGBT community should not have to endure “hate speech” that would inevitably come during the failed ballot campaign, and advocates first need to better educate the public in order to push back against opponents’ arguments.

Get ready for a flood of “bathroom” ads showing a creepy guy following a little girl into the bathroom. I like to believe that the voters are more intelligent than to be persuaded by fear.