Michigan Democrats Push Bills To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

LANSING (AP) – Michigan Democrats are calling for the state to act on legalizing same-sex marriage and making other legal changes in favor of marriage equality ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

Democrats from the Republican-controlled state Senate and House said at a press conference Thursday that attitudes have changed in the decade since Michigan voters wrote a ban on same-sex marriage into Michigan’s constitution.

Rep. Jeremy Moss of Southfield is sponsoring a bill to allow a voter referendum to overturn that ban.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear testimony next month on the legality of bans on same-sex marriage in Michigan and three other states.

Moss says that even though he’s optimistic the high court will strike down the bans, Michigan should clean up its laws.

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House GOP Rejects Changes To Religious Objections Bill

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana House Republicans on Thursday deflected Democrats’ attempts to shield local civil rights ordinances and church and home day care regulations from a proposal that supporters say could allow people to cite strong religious beliefs to deny services for activities such as same-sex weddings.

The debate occurred as about 100 opponents and supporters of the bill filled the House gallery and dozens held signs in the hallway outside the chamber over the measure that critics say could provide legal cover for discrimination against gays and transgender people.

Democrats proposed amendments they said were aimed at ensuring the measure couldn’t be used to overturn local civil rights protections that go further than state law to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination or challenge day care rules that the Legislature approved last year after several years of opposition from conservative groups.

The proposals were defeated in largely party-line votes, with just three of the 71 House Republicans supporting any of the amendments. The House could vote next week on approving the bill, which cleared the Senate in a 40-10 party-line vote last month.

Democratic Rep. Gail Riecken, of Evansville, argued the Legislature needed to be clear that religious objections weren’t sufficient to challenge requirements for day care providers receiving taxpayer money to meet safety and nutritional standards and limits on the number of children they can oversee at one time.

“This bill will only complicate, confuse and provide conflicts for the very basis that we have held for the protection of our children,” she said.

The bill would prohibit any state laws that “substantially burden” a person’s ability to follow his or her religious beliefs and has a definition of a “person” that includes religious institutions, corporations, partnerships and associations.

Supporters say the proposal is aimed at protecting religious freedom and preventing the government from compelling people to be involved in same-sex weddings or other activities they find objectionable.

House Majority Leader Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, said the bill would give courts guidance on how to decide cases involving competing constitutional rights pertaining to religious freedom and discrimination.

“It is important to allow courts to continue to have the ability to determine these things on a case-by-case basis,” McMillin said.

Another rejected amendment was offered by Rep. John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, and would have required business owners who refuse to serve a class of people for religious reasons to post a sign notifying customers.

Sponsors of the bill say it is closely modeled on a federal religious freedom law passed in 1993 and that 19 other states already have similar laws.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, similar bills have been introduced this year in more than a dozen states as conservatives brace for a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. Gay marriage opponents in Indiana were angered last year when the Legislature failed to advance a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. Federal courts later legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

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California May Ban Discrimination Against Transgender Jurors

SACRAMENTO (AP) – The state Assembly has approved a bill to block discrimination against transgender jurors.

The bill by Assemblyman Mark Stone, a Democrat from Monterey Bay, clarifies state law on peremptory challenges that are used to remove prospective jurors during jury selection.

It also bars using peremptory challenges based on a juror’s disability, ethnic group or genetic information.

AB87 says a challenge can’t be used simply because a lawyer assumes that a prospective juror would be biased because he or she has the characteristics of another gender.

The measure passed without debate on a 63-2 vote Thursday. It now goes to the Senate.

It already is illegal to use the challenges because of race, religion, sex, national origin, or sexual orientation.

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