Growing up queer in a state whose leaders and laws express nothing but contempt for you colors even your earliest memories, and sets the contours of any future you can imagine.
That was my experience growing up in Michigan, in the era of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and a state constitutional ban, passed in 2004, on gay marriage.
Against this cruel backdrop, safe havens like the Youth Drop-In Center at Affirmations, Ferndale’s LGBTQ+ community center, were essential. The friends and mentors I met there saved my life, but we knew that the world we were building did not yet exist outside the walls of Affirmations.
In the years since, the movement for LGBTQ+ equality worked to slowly shift public opinion, both across the country and in our own state.
But even as Michiganders became more accepting, state law and policy did not reflect this change. Polling back in 2017 by Hart Research Associates showed that a broad majority of Michiganders supported civil rights for their LGBTQ+ neighbors — but it would be years before any one of the policies they favored could become law in Michigan.
It wasn’t until Michiganders got rid of gerrymandering and expanded voting rights, knocking down the walls that had shut them out from the democratic process, that they were able to finally pass their will into law.
In just the last few years, the Michigan Legislature finally passed a slew of bills to undo this system of legalized hate by, among other things, adding protections for gender identity and sexual orientation to the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) and banning the practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ young people.
Today is a new day in Michigan, and we have so much to celebrate this Pride Month. Yet other states are now moving in the opposite direction, with Indiana passing a ban on healthcare for transgender young people and Ohio passing their own version of a “Don’t Say Gay” bill. We also face the looming risk of backsliding at the federal level, with former President Donald Trump and the current Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives signaling their intent to enact these and other similar rollbacks on the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ Americans the moment they gain the power to do so. Amidst these alarming developments, we should review exactly how Michigan was able to instead become a refuge for LGBTQ+ rights.
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Fixing gerrymandering was good for LGBTQ+ Michiganders
The wide gap that existed between the views of Michiganders and the laws on the books was a byproduct of the deeply unrepresentative government that plagued the state.
The only way that the people were able to reclaim control over this government was by adopting reforms that made Michigan’s government more representative, and made voting more accessible.
Michiganders pounded the pavement, built power, and won key reforms by passing ballot initiatives in 2018 and 2022 to both end legislative gerrymandering, and enshrine key voting rights in the state constitution.
Some of the key provisions of these constitutional amendments that expanded access to the ballot were the right to register to vote up to and on Election Day, the right to cast an absentee ballot for any reason, the institution of automatic voter registration, the widespread deployment of absentee ballot drop boxes, a guarantee to cast absentee ballots postage-free, and the establishment of early in-person voting.
With all of these provisions in effect, it has never been easier for Michiganders to cast their vote and participate in our democracy.
And we are already seeing these reforms bear fruit.
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A majority with a mandate
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University found in a nationwide study that in the 2022 election, Michigan reached the highest turnout rate for young voters and had the second-highest rate of increase in youth voting when compared with the 2018 election, the last statewide election before any of these provisions went into effect.
This same generation proudly represents the single largest share of the nation’s LGBTQ+ population. When Michiganders of all kinds came together to open the doors to the state’s democracy, the state’s queer voters marched right on in.
In this same election, these new voters helped to elect a new Democratic majority in both chambers of the state Legislature for the first time in a generation. Elected from independently drawn district maps, this new legislative majority came into office with clear marching orders from the Michiganders who got them there: the monumental task of finally erasing hate from the state’s statutes.
And that is exactly what they did.
They passed a long-awaited ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. They boldly put an end to the abusive practice of conversion therapy across the state. And they eliminated the barriers that made it harder for LGBTQ+ Michiganders to build loving families through surrogacy, IVF and adoption.
At the same time, this majority pulled the curtain to the voting booth open even wider, making Michigan’s democracy even more representative, vibrant and inclusive.
They passed bills to codify and implement the pro-voter constitutional measures that Michiganders had just approved in 2022. They went even further, passing legislation to allow Michiganders as young as 16 to pre-register, so they will be registered and able to vote when they turn 18 with no further action required. And they even expanded the number of opportunities for Michiganders to be automatically registered to vote — including when they are released from prison and when they apply for Medicaid.
We're not done
All of these reforms have brought justice to millions of Michiganders.
But there is yet more that Michigan’s legislative majority can do to make the state a real leader in both voting rights and LGBTQ+ equality.
Lawmakers have yet to pass the Michigan Voting Rights Act, which would give Michiganders the tools to protect their right to vote against suppression, and make elections more accessible for both voters with disabilities and voters who speak a language other than English.
And they have yet to pass a package of bills that would make it easier for transgender Michiganders to legally change their names and gender markers.
Michigan’s bold actions have made this state a safe haven for all LGBTQ+ Americans.
We keep ourselves safe. And with a real right to vote, LGBTQ+ Michiganders were able to finally secure rights and protections in the law.
This year, Michiganders will have the best opportunity to celebrate this tremendous progress by using their new rights, from Pride Month through Election Day.
Stuart Baum is an expert in voting rights and election administration who was born and raised in Metro Detroit. A graduate of Wayne State University, he served on Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s first Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force. He is currently based in Brooklyn.
