Michigan LGBTQ+ Capitol Day

Last week I went to my first Michigan LGBTQ+ Capitol Day, along with Kim Joki, Al Heise and Norma Bailey. More than 400 people attended. Our intention was to speak with lawmakers about issues affecting the queer community. The organizers equipped us with a page of talking points about each of two issues: gender affirming care and HIV. We got some training, both ahead of time and at the event, about how to engage with the lawmakers: introduce ourselves; tell a personal story about how LGBTQ rights/freedoms/safety affects our lives; ask the lawmaker if they have any questions about the issues; and ask them to commit to voting with us. The organizers had scheduled everything before we got there, and we were assigned to 30-minute meetings with a small group of lobbyists for each lawmaker.

The House and Senate lawmakers who represent Mount Pleasant are both Republicans, and both declined to meet with our lobbying delegation. Instead, I wound up attending two meetings with Democratic House representatives: Jason Morgan from Ann Arbor and Jimmie Wilson from Ypsilanti. Jason Morgan turned out to be a gay man, so he was already on our side and well-informed. When I asked Jimmie Wilson, a black man, if he had any questions about LGBTQ legislation, he basically said that he trusts his LGBTQ colleagues to inform him and guide him in those votes, while he informs them about issues that affect the Black community. This is coalition politics.

It was eye-opening to be in the offices of these State Representatives having small-group conversations. I glimpsed the mundane reality of government work: lawmakers and their staffs going about their business; other lobbying groups in the hallways with their clipboards and their nametags, also taking meetings in conference rooms with their elected officials. And, walking by the offices of Republican lawmakers I noticed the same signs all of them were displaying: “Save Women’s Sports.”

I went to the Michigan LGBTQ+ Capitol Day for the rights, safety and freedom of all queer people. Especially in my heart were members of my family: my gay step-son, my lesbian ex-wife,

and my transgender daughter. If there is one message I want Jason Morgan, Jimmie Wilson, Jerry Neyer, Roger Hauck and all the other elected leaders to hear it is this: transgender people are not a threat to others—others are threatening them. The “save women’s sports” slogans and legislation are part of a coordinated attack on trans people by the political and religious right. The truth is that trans people aren’t ruining sports and they aren’t making bathrooms unsafe—but they are harassed and bullied, mistreated and attacked, far more than cisgender people. I am grateful that I had the chance to go to Lansing with 400 LGBTQ-friendly Michiganders to deliver this message.

PRAYER:

May this be the age of dawning awareness—in churches, classrooms, homes and especially in the halls of power—that gay rights are human rights. That transgender people belong here, that they are sacred and holy just like every person on Earth.

May God bless Emme Zanotti and the other leaders of Equality Michigan.

May Love bless all who struggle for freedom, equality and safety.

Blessed be.