Gay City News: Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender New YorkGay City News: Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender New York
  • Jobs
  • News
    • All
    • Arts
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Perspectives
  • Things to Do
    • Local Events
    • Post an Event
    • Business Events
    • Games
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Editions
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
Gay City News: Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender New YorkGay City News: Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender New York
  • Jobs
  • News
    • All
    • Arts
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Perspectives
  • Things to Do
    • Local Events
    • Post an Event
    • Business Events
    • Games
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Editions
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
Gay City News: Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender New YorkGay City News: Serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender New York
  • News
  • All
  • Arts
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Perspectives
  • Things to Do
  • Post an Event
  • Business Events
  • Games
  • Jobs
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Editions
  • Webinars
  • Podcasts
Legal

Michigan Court Splits Verdict on Anti-Gay, Anti-Trans Discrimination

By Arthur S. Leonard Posted on December 14, 2020
Dana-Nessel-michigan nondiscrimination
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, only the second out lesbian elected to such a post nationwide, is appealing the Court of Claims ruling.
Human Rights Campaign

Relying on a 1993 opinion from Michigan’s intermediate-level appellate court, a Court of Claims judge ruled on December 7 that the state’s Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) — which among others things prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers because of their sex — cannot be interpreted as banning sexual orientation discrimination.

Judge Christopher M. Murray, ruling on December 7 in Rouch World v. Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR), looked to a 17-year-old precedent from the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Significantly, however, the Michigan Supreme Court recently vacated a Court of Appeals ruling that a separate hate crimes statute does not protect transgender people. It ordered the intermediate level bench to reconsider the issue in light of the US Supreme Court’s June ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that both gender identity and sexual orientation are protected classes under the Title VII employment nondiscrimination provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The state’s highest court, then, is prepared to treat Bostock as a persuasive precedent for interpreting the state’s sex discrimination laws — an inclination at odds with Murray’s ruling last week in the public accommodations case.

Trial judge sees precedent against honoring sexual orientation claim, but not gender identity suit

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is the nation’s second out lesbian elected to such a post — after Massachusetts’ Maura Healy — announced that the state would appeal Murray’s ruling regarding sexual orientation discrimination.

Close

Never Miss a Beat

Sign up for email updates.
Thank you for subscribing!

Murray did, however, find that discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations is covered by ELCRA’s sex discrimination ban, in that instance relying on the Bostock ruling. The business facing the gender identity discrimination claim has announced that it is appealing that portion of Murray’s ruling.

The case at issue involved discrimination claims against two businesses. Rouch World, an events venue that rents space for weddings and other celebrations, refused to book a wedding for a same-sex couple, citing the owners’ religious objections to same-sex marriages.

Uprooted Electrolysis, which provides permanent hair-removal treatment, turned down a transgender person seeking their service as part of her transition, also citing religious objections.

The customers rejected by each business filed complaints with MDCR, which has interpreted ELCRA to cover nondiscrimination claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The businesses then filed suit in the Court of Claims, arguing the department lacks jurisdiction on this question, and that in any event their religious objections would override any nondiscrimination requirements under the civil rights act.

Murray explained that ELCRA does not define the word “sex” in the provision applicable to “a place of public accommodation,” which includes businesses selling goods or services to the public.

In 1993, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that “harassment or discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation is not an activity proscribed by the Act.”

That decision is binding on trial courts in Michigan.

Murray explained that whether that “reasoning is no longer valid in light of Bostock v. Clayton County… is a matter for the Court of Appeals, not this court.”

That conclusion of course made Nessel’s appeal inevitable — even if it had not already been so.

Murray, however, found no prior opinion by a Michigan court addressing the question of whether gender identity discrimination claims are covered by ELCRA. Lacking the guidance of any state court precedent, the judge looked to Bostock.

The Michigan Supreme Court’s recent ruling vacating the Court of Appeals decision involved the intermediate appellate bench finding that the state’s ethnic intimidation act inclusion of sex as a protected class did not cover hate crimes against trans people. The high court instructed the Court of Appeals to reconsider the issue in light of Bostock.

The bottom line of Judge Murray’s decision is that MDCR does not have jurisdiction over the sexual orientation discrimination claim against Rouch World unless the Michigan Court of Appeals overrules its 1993 decision, but that it does have jurisdiction to investigate Uprooted Electrolysis’s denial of service to a transgender client.

Of course, the Michigan Supreme Court’s order in the ethnic intimidation case is likely to persuade the Court of Appeals that it should also reconsider the 1993 ruling in light of Bostock.

Murray refrained from ruling on the businesses’ religious exemption claims, stating that issue “has not been sufficiently briefed to resolve at this juncture.”

The question of federal constitutional religious exemptions from complying with state or local anti-discrimination laws is now before the US Supreme Court in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia — which involves the city’s decision now to renew a foster care contract with Catholic Social Services, which refuses to accept same-sex couples as clients. The case was argued at the high court on November 4 and will be decided sometime in 2021.

It is likely that many state agencies and courts will defer decisions on religious exemption claims pending that ruling.

To sign up for the Gay City News email newsletter, visit gaycitynews.com/newsletter.

About the Author

Related Articles

  • In Indiana, County Clerk Can’t Refuse to Issue License
  • GOP to Gays: Drop Dead
  • With Pence Pick, Trump Bets on Hard Right
  • Federal Court Blocks Anti-LGBT Mississippi Law

Jobs in New York

Add your job

  • Hahn's Old Fashioned Cake CompanySE BUSCA AYUDA EN PANADERÍA
  • MDG Design & Construction LLCM/WBE Job Opportunity
  • Auburndale ChiropracticFront Desk/Receptionist

View all jobs…

LGBTQ+ events in NYC

Post an Event

The 4th annual Fun and Dumb is a 4-day i
Today, 11:30 am

Fun and Dumb Improv Festival is Back!
eris evolution

ArtsWestchester has launched an unpreced
Today, noon

Landmark costume exhibition on Ballroom culture
ArtsWestchester Gallery

For the first time, The Heckscher Museum
Today, noon

All of Me with All of You: LGBTQ+ Art Out of the Collection
Heckscher Museum of Art

Head to Long Island City for a unique co
Today, 9 pm

Combover Comedy
Otis & Finn Barbershop

Carrying on the rich history of queer te
Tomorrow, 4 pm

Hamptons Tea Dance
Nova’s Ark Project

Join Henry Street Settlement for our ann
Tomorrow, 6 pm

Summer Fun: Glow-in-the-Dark Movie Night
Sol Lain Park

View All Events…

Arts

  • "I'm Not Everything I Want to Be" runs July 12-14 at Anthology Film Archives. ‘I’m Not Everything I Want To Be’ documents queer life in 1980s Prague
  • “Bel Ami” screens July 21 at 9 p.m. Walter Reade Theater at Film at Lincoln Center. New York Asian Film Festival features queer features, shorts, and documentaries
  • Cory Jeacoma and Matt Rodin in "Beau The Musical." Coming of age, country style: ‘Beau the Musical’ is a heartfelt, heartwarming tale
  • Miss Simone is the focus of the forthcoming documentary "Miss Simone & The Queens of Stonewall." Film screening spotlights forthcoming documentary ‘Miss Simone & The Queens of Stonewall’
  • man dressed like abraham lincoln with actor dressed in 1850s dress arms outstretchedGay theater in a time of restriction and resistance

Politics

  • US President Donald Trump uses a gavel after signing the sweeping spending and tax legislation, known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2025. Anti-trans provisions scrapped from Trump’s massive bill 
  • Justin Sanchez (R) celebrating at Zona de Cuba in the South Bronx after taking a commanding lead in the Democratic primary for City Council District 17 on June 24, 2025. Former Stonewall Democratic Club president Justin Sanchez wins Bronx Council race
  • gender affirming care‘Scary and Depressing’: Bronx LGBTQ+ community reacts to SCOTUS ruling on gender affirming care
  • State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal claimed victory in the Democratic primary for Manhattan borough president on June 24, 2025. Hoylman-Sigal leads strong night for LGBTQ candidates in New York City
  • Brad Hoylman-Sigal wins Democratic nomination for Manhattan borough president2025 Elections: Brad Hoylman-Sigal appears to win Democratic nomination for Manhattan borough president, and make history

Crime

  • Outside of The Monster in Greenwich Village. Man allegedly brandishes knife, defaces Pride sign in Greenwich Village: NYPD
  • Police officers in NYPD vests examine scene where person was shotTwo men shot near Harlem gay bar; shooter remains at large, cops say
  • Man in suit looks at crime scene with blood and napkins on sidewalkStonewall shooting: Two teen girls shot near historic Village inn during Pride celebrations
  • murder trans PhillyKiller convicted in murder of Philly trans woman Dominique Fells
  • Photographs and candles pay tribute to the late Cecilia Gentili during a memorial service at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan on Feb. 7, 2024. Man sentenced to 19 years in connection with death of activist Cecilia Gentili

Perspectives

  • At the Queer Liberation March in 2022. Pride is resilience, liberation, community, and identity
  • A picture depicting the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV prior to his election is displayed as Bishop Edinson Edgardo Farfan Cordova speaks during a press conference, following the election of Pope Leo XIV, in Chiclayo, Peru, May 9, 2025. Thoughts on popes, old and new — and their surprises on LGBTQ issues
  • Carmen Hernandez. Patients and employers pay more as healthcare conglomerates profit from federal program meant to serve vulnerable communities
  • A view of the front steps of New York City Hall. Four cheers and five jeers to the City Council’s vote on trans protections
  • The entrance of Mount Morris Baths. What it was like to work at Harlem’s Mount Morris Baths, an uptown refuge

LGBTQ+ events in NYC

New York’s Job Board

More from Around NYC

online gambling
Brooklyn Paper

Lucchese crime family captain sentenced to 21 months in prison for long-running illegal gambling biz

cross-bronx-expressway-adrian
Bronx Times

Environmentalists push NYSDOT to safeguard Bronx River during expressway rehab

Jamaica's Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.
Caribbean Life

CARICOM throws support behind Jamaica’s reparation efforts

Jordan Westburg Mets Orioles Game 2
AMNY

Mets blow another lead, swept in doubleheader by Orioles

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Networking Events
  • Advertise
  • © Gay City News 2025. Schneps Media
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Sections
  • Jobs
  • Games
  • Events
  • Contact