Christian and Muslim groups want faith protections added to LGBTQ rights bill

Christian and Muslim groups are raising concerns about a state bill supported by Democrats and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that seeks to include LGBTQ people as a protected group under a civil rights law.

Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Republican leaders say that state Senate Bill 4, introduced last month, could lead to discrimination against religious people and groups, exposing them to potential lawsuits if they articulate conservative views on marriage and sexuality. They're asking supporters of the bill to include a section that explicitly protects the rights of religious groups, something they said 22 other states included when they passed laws to add sexual orientation as a protected category.

"We strongly believe Michigan should include protections for religious organizations in Senate Bill 4 to avoid faith-based organizations, particularly those who believe marriage is between a man and a woman, from being targeted for litigation," Tom Hickson, vice president for public policy and advocacy for the Michigan Catholic Conference, said this month to the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. "Every state that has amended its anti-discrimination law ... has included protections for religious organizations. Unfortunately, Michigan appears to be going in an opposite and unprecedented direction."

The Michigan Catholic Conference, which is the main lobbying and advocacy arm of the Catholic Church in Michigan, said it is extending an "olive branch to supporters" of the bill to find a resolution.

"We will try to find common ground on this topic," Hickson said.

More than 4,000 messages from 2,000 Michiganders have been sent to legislators calling for religious protections, the Catholic Conference said.

But backers of the amendment don't appear, for now, to be open to making those changes.

On Friday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel held a roundtable in Ferndale with members of the LGBTQ community to push for support of the bill.

Sponsored by state Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, the bill would amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression. The 1976 act already bans discrimination in employment, housing, and public services, among other areas, based on other categories such as religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight and marital status. For years, LGBTQ advocates have been pushing to include their communities in the bill to ensure they don't face discrimination.

"We are not asking for anything more than anyone else has but we are also not going to accept anything less than equal protection under the law," Moss, who is gay and attended the Friday roundtable, said in a statement released by Whitmer's office. “We will not live in the shadows — we are your family members, your friends, your neighbors and your colleagues."

Moss believes his bill and a House counterpart will soon be approved and sent "to the Governor for her signature." Moss' office did not return a message seeking comment on the concerns raised by some religious groups; the statement from Whitmer's office also did not address the objections from conservatives.

In a statement released earlier this month when announcing the bill, Moss said: "While this legislation is a document of my values as a gay person, I also believe it is a document of Michigan values, too: of decency, of kindness, and of respect toward one another."

In addition to the Catholic Church, a group in Michigan led by conservative Protestants, Citizens for Traditional Values, objects to the bill, asking Michiganders to call their Senators.

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"This legislation puts our religious freedoms in peril unless an amendment is added to protect churches and people of faith," the Christian group said.

Some Muslim advocates are also concerned about the bill.

"Should these amendments be enshrined in the ELCRA, religious institutions — including our Muslim institutions — may face serious lawsuits," said the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Michigan in an action statement last week that has drawn more than 1,820 supporters as of Saturday. "For instance, if a mosque were to not accommodate an individual whose gender identity does not conform with their biological sex assigned at birth, that institution could be sued for discrimination."

Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR Michigan, and Paul Long, president and CEO of Michigan Catholic Conference, wrote a joint op-ed published Feb. 19 in the Detroit News, calling for religious protections.

The alliance of some Muslims and Christians in opposing the current version of the Senate bill is the latest example of the two faith groups in Michigan teaming up to oppose liberal policies. Last year, CAIR Michigan came out in support of parents in Dearborn who were objecting to some LGBTQ books they said were inappropriate for children. CAIR also had sided with some Catholic groups in opposing an earlier ballot initiative in 2021 from Fair and Equal Michigan promoting LGBTQ rights they said would trample on religious rights; it did not make the ballot.

The debate heated up Thursday as the Michigan Republican Party expressed concern and state Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, announced he was introducing an amendment to Moss' bill that would include protections for religious groups. Runestad's bill would add the phrase "religious orientation, religious identity or expression" as additional categories of protection. The ELCRA currently has "religion" already in it, but conservatives say that's not sufficient to protect people of faith.

"At its worst," Moss' bill "will cause confusion because of the lack of legal precedent surrounding the word 'expression,' " Runestad said in a statement. "And it will open a door for those who have been wishing for an opportunity to weaponize Michigan’s civil rights lawagainst fellow residents with strongly held religious beliefs."

On Thursday, the Michigan GOP posted to Twitter a statement expressing opposition to Moss' Senate bill, asserting that the proposed amendments "are a direct attack on religious liberty." It added: "The Democratic Party has become an enemy of religious freedom. ... The Amendments to the Elliott-Larsen Act are a direct attack on religious liberty."

But the tweet was later deleted, followed by another tweet linking to a statement from Runestad expressing opposition to the bill and asking for protections for religious groups.

"Thank you Senator for fighting to protect ALL Michiganders from discrimination!" Michigan GOP said.

In a response to the original tweet by the Michigan GOP, state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, who is gay, said in a tweet the claims by the GOP are "a LIE."

"Amending ELCRA to finally extend equal civil rights for LGBTQ+ Michiganders like me will in NO WAY compel any religious institution in Michigan to perform religious rites and ceremonies inconsistent with their doctrine and practice," Arbit wrote.

The dispute is the latest fight in Michigan between religious groups and Democrats over cultural issues in recent years, including a lawsuits filed by a Catholic charity in Lansing that resulted in a settlement last year with the state that allowed it to continue its practice of not placing foster kids in homes with gay parents. In July, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that LGBTQ people are protected under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act since the word "sex" in it can also refer to sexual orientation. But Democrats said legislation was needed to ensure the protections, especially if a future Supreme Court overturns that ruling.

Here are some of the concerns raised by Christians and Muslims if the bill passes without religious protections, said Muslim and Christian leaders.

• Facilities tied to religious groups, such as a Knights of Columbus hall or a center tied to a mosque, could be forced to rent locations for same-sex wedding receptions.

• Religious centers could be forced to end mental health support, marriage counseling or other types of counseling based on their traditional beliefs.

• Faith groups with conservative views could be barred from state contracts for service programs.

• Houses of worship and other faith-based institutions could be forced to accommodate employees who identify as transgender.

• Churches or mosques would be unable to fire employees who marry someone of the same gender.

"Without religious protections included in amendments to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, we believe numerous programs and ministries could be targeted or placed in jeopardy," said David Maluchnik, vice president of communications for the Michigan Catholic Conference, told the Free Press. "The need for religious protections comes down to making sure those individuals and organizations who have long held and believed that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that males and females are biologically different from one another, are not hauled into court or targeted for serving others according to their beliefs."

Maluchnik worries the bill could prevent Catholics from serving communities in need.

"Catholics are called to love God and therefore, because all people are made in God’s image and likeness, to serve our neighbors by feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and homeless, providing assistance to refugees and performing works of charity," he said.

Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or Twitter @nwarikoo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Christian and Muslim groups oppose LGBTQ rights bill, call for changes