rights and the problem of taking sides on the issue. By considering only job-related qualifications the employer assures fair treatment of employees and at the same time ensures that well qualified people that could add to a corporation's profitable operation are not

dismissed or discouraged for arbitrary reasons; thus conserving on a valuable resource high quality, dependable employees.

In similar, but further reaching actions, many state governments have decriminalized consensual sex acts between adults. Like corporations, state governments have realized that private activities between two consenting adults are not properly within the realm of regulation and control. Such laws are practically unenforceable, and when enforced are virtually always unevenly applied, cause more problems than they solve, and cost more to enforce than they're worth. Furthermore, decriminalization has an important job-related effect. Many corporations though not considering a person's sexual orientation, will consider a criminal record. And in states where certain sexual acts are still felonies and those laws are used against gay people, a conviction on a sex crime rap can be a "legitimate' reason to deny or terminate employment. Decriminalization eliminates this danger and at the same time helps protect gay people from harrassment.

Simply ignoring a person's private sex life in employment practices and criminal law can be an effective way of removing any official stigma from being gay or lesbian. However, decriminalization alone is not as effective as specific "sexual orientation civil rights protections, especially in the realm of affirmative action programs or enforcement activities against violators. The specific inclusion of "sexual orientation" in civil rights acts lends credibility to the contention that gay and lesbian people are a bona fide minority, and that infractions against them because of their sexuality are, in fact, violations of their civil rights. This often enables enforcement where a violation can be proven, whereas under simple decriminalization such enforcement may be difficult or impractical because the status of the individual's sexual orientation as a protected characteristic is not clearly established by statute as a civil right.

Both decriminalization and specific protection are necessary and beneficial steps in the right direction. Only after gay and lesbian people are afforded legal status and protection can meaningful social changes be undertaken. Without the removal of laws that threaten people for expressing their sexuality, and the protection of this country's legal system for the basic civil right of just being who you are, real progress towards a more humanistic attitude about sexual minorities will remain a dream

Gay/Lesbian Rights

in Michigan

"In Detroit, regardless whether gay persons have chosen to be "out" and self-affirmed or to be "closeted" wherein they lead double lives, collectively they have had an intense impact on this city during this period of rebirth and new building. Let me cite two examples out of many which come from my own first-hand knowledge: much of the cultural life in Detroit from season ticket subscribers to the Detroit Symphony and Founders' Society members of the Art Institute, to active service with The Friends of Belle Isle is supported disproportionate to their numbers by gays; second, in residential areas such as Indian Village, Palmer Park, EdisonBoston and the West Village, where renovation and historic preservation have become symbols of civic vitality, gays in disproportionate numbers have set the standard. Sociological studies for other urban centers have established the demographic fact that rural and suburban gays tend to abandon their original locales to settle in large cities, primarily because of familial rejection at home and the opportunity for anonymity within the city; as a result, the national statistic of 10 percent of the population as gay is low for major urban centers. San Francisco will approach 60 percent gay by 1980, Minneapolis and Boston may come near 40 percent by the same date. We find no reason to assume that the gay population of Detroit is less than 10 percent and is probably significantly higher."

Excerpt from the Presentation to the Human Rights Commission, City of Detroit by the Detroit Committee of MOHR, April 3, 1978.

HITTING YOU WHERE YOU LIVE

Despite the criminal laws still on the books, many localities have written civil rights protections for gay people into law. The following are the texts of current local civil rights acts in the State of Michigan.

LOCAL GAY RIGHTS LEGISLATION (Note: Not included here is the text of Ann Arbor's civil rights ordinance, the state's first, enacted in 1972. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the areas of: EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, PUBLIC ACCOMODATIONS, REAL ESTATE PRACTICES, and CREDIT.) CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DETROIT

Adopted November 6, 1973 Effective July 1, 1974 Chapter 10 Human Rights Department and Commission Sec. 7-1004. Duties. Subject to policies established by the commission, the department shall:

Investigate complaints of unlawful discrimination against any

person because of race, color, creed, national origin, age, handicap, sex or sexual orientation in violation of any ordinance or any law within the city's jurisdiction to enforce; and secure equal protection of civil rights without discrimination. The city shall implement this section by ordinance. The human rights department may cooperate with other civil rights agencies in the resolution of complaints where jurisdiction is concurrent.

2. Secure the rights of citizens to service from city government without discrimination; and

3. Endeavor to increase mutual understanding among the residents of the community, to promote goodwill, and to work cooperatively with other agencies of government, community groups and organizations, and other persons to eliminate discrimination and the results of past discrimination.

OMNIBUS HUMAN RIGHTS ORDINANCE CITY OF DETROIT Passed January 24, 1979 Effective February 9, 1979

Ordinance No. 303-H Chapter 2 Article 7

Sec. 2-7-1

The City Council hereby finds and declares that prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, discrimination, and the disorder occasioned thereby, threaten the civil rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the City of Detroit and menace its institutions. The Human Rights Department, subject to the policies established by the Human Rights Commission, shall have thepower and general jurisdiction within and without city government to eliminate discrimination, to approve of procedures which will remedy the effects of past discrimination, and to prevent discrimination in: education, employment, medical care facilities, housing accommodations, commercial space, places of public accommodation, resort or amusement, or other. forms of discrimination prohibited by law, based upon, race, color, creed, national origin, age, marital status, handicap, sex, or sexual orientation; and to take such action as necessary to secure the equal protection of civil rights. CITY OF LANSING CHARTER Article 6 City Employees Chapter

3

(Adopted August 8, 1978)

6-301 NON-DISCRIMINATION: No City employ or applicant for employment shall be discriminated against because of race, religion, national origin, age, political orientation, marital status, sex, handicap, or for any cause not reasonably related to the accomplishment of a legitimate governmental purpose. The City shall take affirmative action for the recruitment and advancement of members of groups under represented on any level of City employment as compared to the

minority and sex composition of the City.

CITY OF EAST LANSING HUMAN RELATIONS ORDINANCE Chapter 4 Title 1 of the Code of the City of East Lansing

Section 1.125. Public Policy. It is hereby declared to be contrary to the public policy of the City of East Lansing for any person to deny any other person the enjoyment of his/her civil rights or for any person to discriminate against any other person in the exercise of his/her civil rights because of race, religion, national origin, age, handicap, sex, marital status, sexual orientation or student status. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND NON DISCRIMINATION RESOLUTION BY THE COUNTY OF INGHAM (MICHIGAN)

Resolution No. 78-170 Adopted June 13, 1978

WHEREAS, it is advisable to amend, supplement and resate the policy of the County of Ingham regarding equal opportunity and non-discrimination;

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