Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act

History

The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act was passed in 1976, signed into law by Michigan Governor William Milliken on January 13, 1977, and went into effect on March 31, 1977. It has been amended directly or indirectly nearly 20 times.

Prior protections

In 1885, Michigan adopted the Public Act 130 of 1885, otherwise known as the Civil Rights Act, which stated “all persons within the jurisdiction of (the state) shall be entitled to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, restaurants, eating-houses, barber shops, public conveyances on land and water, theatres, and all other places of public accommodation and amusement”. In 1890, the Michigan Supreme Court in Ferguson v. Gies relied on the Civil Rights Act in holding the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional under Michigan law, over 60 years before the Supreme Court of the United States case of Brown v. Board of Education. In 1927, the Civil Rights Act survived constitutional challenge in Bolden v. Grand Rapids Operating Corporation.

In the years following Bolden v. Grand Rapids Operating Corporation, Michigan passed additional civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment. The progression of the state’s laws reached a new pinnacle when civil rights were given constitutional status in Michigan's Constitution of 1963, which also resulted in the formation of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.

Passage

After attempting in 1966 to pass a Michigan version of the federal civil rights law that was adopted in 1964, Michigan State Representative Daisy Elliott was told by the leadership of her political party, the Democrats, that her measure would never pass unless she found a Republican to co-sponsor it. After being newly elected, Michigan State Representative Melvin L. Larsen, a Republican from Oxford, indicated in 1973 that he would co-sponsor the law. Larsen served on the Michigan House of Representatives civil rights committee that would hold hearings and vote on the proposed legislation. Larsen has stated that his Catholic faith and experience as a principal, athletic director, football coach and instructor at one of the Pontiac Catholic schools was what motivated him to support anti-discrimination measures.

The act was modeled on prior state civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and housing but considerably extended the reach of their application and broadened the forms of discrimination prohibited.

When proposed by Elliott and Larsen in 1973, the legislation faced opposition from the disabled (referred to as "handicappers" at the time) and LGBT communities because it did not include protections for members of those communities. Elliott and Larsen indicated that the legislation was meant to focus on the African American community. When the bill passed three years later, it was believed that adding "sexual orientation" would prevent the bill from passing, so it was left out. Elliott and Larsen made the decision to proceed with the final bill after Elliott offered to add Larsen's name to the bill and consulted him on the final effort to pass the bill in 1976. Most issues raised by the disabled community were also addressed in 1976 with the passage of the Michigan’s Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act.

It passed with 25 votes in the Michigan Senate and 79 votes in the Michigan House of Representatives, and was signed into law by Governor William Milliken on January 13, 1977. The law went into effect on March 31, 1977.

Effort to add protections for LGBT people

As early as the 1973 committee hearing on the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, members of the LGBT community in Michigan sought to be included in the law. In 1983, Republican state representative Jim Dressel co-sponsored House Bill 5000, which would have added "sexual orientation" to the list of protected characteristics; Dressel – who later came out as gay – was defeated for re-election the following year. Michigan's first openly LGBT state legislator, Chris Kolb, included such a change in two other pro-LGBT bills—none of which passed.

Since then a number of additional bills have been introduced to add protections for the LGBT community. Most recently, a bill to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression was introduced by State Representative Sam Singh in 2014. Another bill which only included sexual orientation was also introduced by State Representative Frank Foster, but did not receive support from the LGBT community or progressives as the bill left out members of the transgender community and did not adequately protect lesbian, gay, or bisexual people from discrimination. Both bills received a hearing before the Michigan House Commerce Committee, but neither bill received a committee vote.

Amendments

The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act has been amended directly or indirectly nearly 20 times to refine the law, its enforcement, and add protections for groups or classifications not originally named in the act such as height and weight. Most recently in 2009, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed Public Act 190 of 2009, an amendment that increased employment protections for pregnant workers.

Honors and recognition

The State Bar of Michigan recognized the law at the 37th Legal Milestone dedication on August 28, 2012, at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing.