Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is moving to bar state contractors and the recipients of state grants or loans from discriminating against LGBTQ employees. The Republican, who will leave office next week, issued his directive Friday. It requires all new or amended contracts, grants, or loans to include a covenant stating the recipient will not discriminate against workers or applicants based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Mary Jo Schnell with the OutCenter in Benton Harbor tells WSJM News word of Snyder’s order is “bittersweet.”
“[We’re] over the moon that he’s doing something, but it’s on his way out the door when he had so many opportunities if he only had the moral courage to do the right thing,” Schnell said.
Schnell says Snyder could have pushed for an expanded Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTQ Michiganders. Still, she says protecting the workers directly affected by Snyder’s order is a start.
“I think it’s going to be a cause for pause for anybody that in the past had discriminated, either blatantly or kind of on the down low,” Schnell said.
Schnell says she’s optimistic about what could come when Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer takes office. She met with the Whitmer transition team in Lansing a few weeks ago, and says she was impressed.
