(LifeSiteNews) –– As expected, both chambers of the Michigan legislature have voted in favor of a sweeping pro-LGBT civil rights bill that fails to include religious liberty exemptions. Pro-abortion Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has promised to sign the measure into law.
“The Michigan House of Representatives voted today to amend the state’s civil rights act that will likely create a right to target religious organizations for their teachings, beliefs and practices related to traditional marriage and biological gender differences,” the Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) said in a press release Wednesday.
The MCC is the Catholic Church’s official public policy voice in Lansing, the state’s capitol. The group opposed the bill for months, sending over 8,000 messages to lawmakers from Catholics throughout the state.
Michigan’s’ State House and State Senate are currently run by Democrats, who have not had majorities in those chambers in 40 years and are clearly capitalizing on their newfound power. Democrats wield a slim 56-54 majority in the House while possessing a 20-18 majority in the Senate.
The heavily-criticized bill passed the House Wednesday by a 64-45 vote, with 8 Republicans crossing the aisle to join their Democrat colleagues. The bill passed the Senate 23-15 last week, with 3 GOP Senators throwing their support behind the proposal.
The Michigan chapter of the typically left-leaning Council on American-Islamic Relations opposed the bill as well, in partnership with the MCC. Staff attorney Amy Doukoure told Fox News Digital that Michigan lawmakers crammed the bill through without having met with religious constituents. She also predicted “expensive and lengthy” litigation would follow, as battles over what constitutes discrimination will undoubtedly ensue.
22 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, have similar non-discrimination laws that include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes of persons. California, New York, and Massachusetts are just some of the more liberal states to have done so. However, as the MCC has noted on its Twitter account, every one of those places includes some type of religious liberty carveout, thus making Michigan home to the most extreme LGBT civil rights law in the country.
The House is scheduled TODAY to take up the civil rights bill that up to this point does NOT include religious protections. We plan to testify once again in committee this morning. To watch the proceedings, click or tap here: https://t.co/ojeyDqbmSR pic.twitter.com/NCUFoAwvaf
— MICatholicConference (@MICatholicConf) March 8, 2023
Michigan GOP State Rep. Jim DeSana, who voted against the bill, told LifeSiteNews he believes the measure poses serious problems for the people of his state.
“This amendment to Michigan’s civil rights act threatens to disregard the sincerely held religious beliefs of millions of Michiganders. Without protections for religious conscience, only expensive and protracted litigation will result,” he said.
Once Whitmer signs the bill into law, it is not unreasonable to think Michigan’s lesbian Attorney General, Dana Nessel, who has repeatedly targeted religious Americans opposed to the LGBT agenda, will use it to further crack down on persons of faith. Not only did she join a coalition of 17 other states to oppose Florida’s commonsense parental rights bill last month, she demanded, in 2019, that Christian adoption agencies in Michigan provide services to same-sex couples or be denied state funding. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a related matter eventually scuttled her plans.