LGBT members lobby in capital to alter hate-crime law

For the first time in 15 years, members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community gathered last week in Lansing to lobby state legislators for equal rights.

As part of the nationwide Equality Begins at Home campaign, the lobby involved nearly 100 people from across the state who met with lawmakers at the Capitol, said Sean Kosofsky, associate director of policy for the Triangle Foundation.

A primary focus of the gathering was to show support for a pending House bill introduced by Rep. Lynne Martinez (D-Lansing) that would amend the state's hate crimes law to include gays and lesbians, Kosofsky said.

Martinez said she knows first-hand the need to protect homosexuals under the hate crimes law.

"There are escalating numbers on hate crimes in Michigan," Martinez said. "I have constituents who have been attacked based on sexual orientation."

Martinez said an identical proposal passed the state House last year but died in the Senate.

E. Frederic Dennis, director of the University's Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, said it is important for legislators to see first-hand those who would be affected by the bill.

"I think that hate crimes are on the rise," Dennis said, "and one of the ways that we can effectively fight that is to be visible."

Kosofsky said visibility was not a problem for the group and the gathering was effective. "No legislator could have made it out of the Capitol without knowing that gays and lesbians were there," Kosofsky said.

Another goal of the gathering was to express opposition to a proposal introduced last year by former Republican Rep. Jack Horton, who is now the director of the Michigan Christian Coalition. The bill - which would have prohibited gay couples from adopting children - did not make it through the House Judiciary Committee last session, but Kosofsky and Dennis said they fear a similar bill may be proposed this year as well.

"Before that bill got written we wanted to let our legislators know that we oppose it," Kosofsky said.

Dennis said conservative religious groups such as the Christian Coalition have targeted Michigan this year in a campaign to strip gays of their rights.

Kosofsky said he doesn't want this year's Legislature to pass laws similar to 1996, when 26 states - including Michigan - banned same-sex marriages. Since that year, Michigan has also refused to recognize licenses of gay marriages performed out-of-state.

Dennis said the LGBT office is organizing a petition drive to persuade legislators to back the hate crimes law amendment bill, but it's too early to tell how much support University students will lend to the proposal.

04-02-99