Tag: Michigan

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Michigan Republican Attempts To Cover His Extra-Marital Affair By Starting False Gay Rumor About Himself

Michigan lawmakers Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat

I mean, you really can’t make this stuff up.

Michigan GOP lawmaker Rep. Todd Courser attempted to cover up his real extramarital affair with another Republican lawmaker, Rep. Cindy Gamrat (both straight, married to other people, several kids each) by having his aide spread false gay rumors about him.

See, that way, when the truth came out about his real affair it wouldn’t seem so bad. Got it?

From Queerty:

It would have worked perfectly (but really though, would it have?) had Ben Graham, Courser’s aide at the time, not recorded the whole thing. Graham refused to send the email, and was promptly fired. (Side note: Gamrat also fired her aide who was unwilling to assist in the coverup.)

In the recordings, Courser was heard asking Graham to send the email and get “nasty about it” by saying the lawmaker was addicted to porn and was a “sexual deviant.”

The two lawmakers are married with children, and have worked in tandem to actively block same-sex marriage even after the Supreme Court’s June decision. Because Jesus. And freedom.

You can hear the recorded meetings over at DetroitNews.com

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Michigan Governor Signs Discriminatory Anti-Adoption Bill Into Law

Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan signed into law today a bill that allows private adoption agencies with state contracts to decline adoption services to same-sex couples if it goes against “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The press release from Michigan Gov. Snyder’s office spins the law as “ensuring that as many children are adopted to as many loving families as possible” and yet it throws up a road block to doing just that.

Ugh.

From the Governor’s press release:

Gov. Rick Snyder today signed legislation ensuring Michigan children up for adoption have the greatest opportunity to be placed in loving homes. “The state has made significant progress in finding more forever homes for Michigan kids in recent years and that wouldn’t be possible without the public-private partnerships that facilitate the adoption process,” Snyder said. “We are focused on ensuring that as many children are adopted to as many loving families as possible regardless of their makeup.”

House Bills 4188, 4189 and 4190, sponsored by lawmakers from both parties — state Reps. Andrea LaFontaine, R-Columbus Township, Harvey Santana, D-Detroit, and Eric Leutheuser, R-Hillsdale, respectively, help continue Michigan’s successful placement of children with loving families by codifying current adoption practices within the state. Under the legislation, faith-based agencies that contract with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services can operate in accordance with their beliefs.

The bills also require child placement agencies that decline any services to prospective parents to promptly provide information and a list of alternative adoption agencies willing and able to serve them. They do not change current practices in Michigan, but prevent faith-based agencies from having policies forced on them that violate their religious beliefs, which have resulted in agencies closing in Massachusetts, Illinois, California, and Washington, D.C.

The Detroit Free-Press: “Critics of the bills have derided the legislation as state-sanctioned discrimination against same-sex and unmarried couples — especially because many of the faith-based agencies receive public funding from the state.”

“Governor Rick Snyder has proven today that he has utter disdain for the welfare of children in Michigan and that he cares only about empowering backwards discrimination,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “This legislation keeps children in need out of the loving homes they deserve, and it sets this great state back decades.”

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News Round-up: June 10, 2015

Laverne Cox

Some stories you may have missed:

• Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black) will be the first transgender person to be immortalized at the famous Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

• A straight couple in Australia plan to divorce if same-sex marriage is legalized in his country.
That’ll learn ’em.

• It seems McKinney resident Sean Toon, who stood up for the police officer who handcuffed a 14 year old girl over pool party chaos, might have had more to do with the incident that he has previously let on.

• There are 3,000 kids in Michigan waiting to be adopted and the state Senate just made that much more difficult.

• The new Netflix series Sense8 is pretty fab. And so is the handsome latin star Miguel Ángel Silvestrewho, who plays one of the show’s gay characters. Check out his teaser video below.

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Michigan: Anti-Gay Auto Shop Owner Claims Graffiti Attack By “Evil” Homosexual Agenda

Michigan auto shop owner Brian Klawiter recently reported his business being vandalized by what he calls the “evil” homosexual agenda.

This comes in the wake of Klawiter’s inflammatory statements last week when he said he wouldn’t serve “openly gay” customers.

From Klawiter’s Facebook page:

Well, folks, as we predicted, it didn’t take long for the ugly face of the homosexual movement to present itself. What started out with “mere” death threats against myself and my family and homosexuals spamming my Facebook page with gay porn shots, has escalated to physical violence.

[snip]

The homosexual agenda is evil, and is prepared to destroy anyone who gets in its way, or who calls homosexuality a sin. Today it’s us; tomorrow, it could be you.

There’s really no way to know if this is true vandalism or staged to gin up further anti-gay furor.

But everyone should know violence and destruction by our side does no good for anyone.

Nowhere. No how.

Don’t do it.

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Michigan Auto Shop Owner Who Would Deny Gays Service Has No Business License

It turns out Brian Klawiter, the auto shop owner who posted on Facebook that he would refuse to serve openly gay customers, doesn’t even have a city business license, according to city authorities.

Brian Klawiter earlier this year told the City Council that requiring a license violates his constitutional rights because it authorizes city inspectors to enter his property without a warrant.

“This is a blatant and intentioned violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution,” Klawiter told the council on Jan. 26. “I dispute your lawful ability to do what you claim. I will not sign the application. I cannot and will not give up my civil rights, especially when requested by a government entity for which the Constitution was designed to limit the power of.”

Klawiter also says he has received death threats because of his anti-gay Facebook post, but police have not been asked to investigate, nor has Klawiter filed any charges.

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Michigan Auto Shop Owner Says He Won’t Serve “Openly Gay” Customers

Quote of the day from Michigan auto shop owner Brian Klawiter:

“I would not hesitate to refuse service to an openly gay person or persons. Homosexuality is wrong, period. If you want to argue this fact with me then I will put your vehicle together with all bolts and no nuts and you can see how that works.”

“If you want to come in here with your boyfriend and you want to openly display that, that’s just not going to be tolerated here. We don’t believe that here.”

I assume this guy is either just an ass, or he’s looking for an $842,000 windfall like the pizza joint owners in Indiana?

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Michigan Will Recognize Over 300 Same-Sex Marriages Performed Last Year

Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan announced today that the state will recognize the more than 300 same-sex marriages that occurred last year during a brief period between court rulings that brought down the state’s ban on marriage equality.

From the AP:

The Republican governor said he will not appeal a federal ruling last month that the state must recognize the marriages. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith said the marriages are valid but put on hold his decision for 21 days pending any appeal by the state.

“The judge has determined that same-sex couples were legally married on that day, and we will follow the law and extend state marriage benefits to those couples,” Snyder said in a statement.

Michigan’s recognition of the marriages could affect the couples’ health insurance coverage and their ability to jointly adopt.

A different federal judge struck down Michigan’s 2004 voter-approved gay marriage ban on March 21. Same-sex couples in four counties married the next day, before an appeals court suspended the decision and blocked additional marriages.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided to consider the legality of bans in Michigan and three other states.

Michigan is one of four states who saw their state’s same-sex marriage bans upheld by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Those rulings will be reviewed by SCOTUS in April with a ruling expected in June.

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Federal Judge Orders Michigan To Recognize 300 Same-Sex Marriages

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that a federal judge has ordered the state of Michigan to recognize 300 same-sex marriages in Michigan today, calling them a “fundamental right.”

“In these circumstances, what the state has joined together, it may not put asunder.,” U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said in his opinion.

U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether to hear MI same-sex marriage case

The 300 couples wed last March after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same sex marriage. The state has since refused to recognize them.

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SCOTUS To Consider Michigan Same-Sex Marriage Appeal On January 9th

January 9, 2015 looks to be the day that the US Supreme Court will consider taking up a review of the Michigan same-sex marriage ruling.

Last month, the 6th Circuit became the first appeals court to uphold state-level bans on same-sex marriage. The 6th upheld marriage equality bans in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Michigan is considered an especially appropriate case to take to SCOTUS for several reasons:

• There was an actual trial for the legal challenge as opposed to a ruling based purely on a judge’s review of briefs filed
• The Michigan case includes not only recognition of marriages performed in other states, but seeks to overturn Michigan’s own ban on same-sex marriage
• The Michigan plaintiffs are raising children – a big component in the marriage equality debate

Hopefully, SCOTUS will take this important case up for review in this session. Otherwise, LGBT families would have to wait another year for marriage equality.

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Kentucky and Michigan follow Ohio and Tennessee with SCOTUS Filings For Same-Sex Marriage Review

Following the petitions filed on Friday by Ohio and Tennessee, the plaintiffs in the Kentucky and Michigan same-sex marriage cases – which recently saw their respective state’s bans upheld by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals – have filed requests with SCOTUS for review of that 6th Circuit anti-equality ruling.

SCOTUS is highly expected to take up at least one if not all cases now that there is disagreement among federal appellate courts on marriage equality.

Stay tuned.