Back on March 7, 1972, at the urging of the Gay Liberation Movement student group at Michigan State University, East Lansing adopted a new law that banned the firing or discrimination of a person based on “sex or homosexuality.” The City Council passed that first law, which, at the time, applied only to city hiring practices, by a 4 to 1 vote.
The passage was not without controversy, however. as the original provision allowed city officials to fire any employee for homosexual solicitation. That amendment initially passed on a 3 to 2 vote but was rescinded at the following council meeting on a 3 to 2 vote.
East Lansing City Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Triplet sponsored the resolution to honor the anniversary:
“Outside of East Lansing and the 17 cities that have passed similar ordinances in Michigan, it’s still legal in our state to fire someone for being gay. That’s entirely unacceptable. It’s also ironic and tragic that at the very moment we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of our groundbreaking policy, there is a bill pending in the state legislature that would void our human relations ordinance and in effect legalize discrimination against LGBT people in East Lansing.”And, while Wilbur Brookover, East Lansing's mayor at that time, was opposed to the move, the new anti-discrimination law laid the groundwork 40 years ago to protecting LGBT citizens from discrimination. And yet, to this day, the state of Michigan has not adopted comprehensive legislation to extend such protections statewide. Local governments decide that for themselves.
So, we have Stonewall, we have Harvey Milk, we have Bayard Rustin, we have marriage in many parts of the country, we have the end of DADT, and, now, we remember that we also have East Lansing, making a bold move at a time when such thought was not popular or accepted or tolerated.
Congratulations on 40 years of non-discrimination, East Lansing.
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yea!
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