ACLU at the Michigan Capitol – February 8, 2016

This week as the legislature begins to move bills through the legislative process, below are three specific areas where our supporters can be impactful:

The following is an excerpt from the "Great, Not Big" blog, which is authored by Carl Erickson, CEO and cofounder of Atomic Object, a software product development company with offices in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. Atomic Object is a member of the Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition, co-founded by the ACLU of Michigan with the goal of updating Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Transgender Advocacy Project was conceived from a very simple premise: Transgender people’s voices are critical to moving the entire equality movement forward in a post-marriage equality America. And it’s working.

Next month, some 25 transgender Michiganders and allies will complete the first Advocacy University program. They have engaged in a six-month, intensive education program designed to impart sophisticated advocacy skills and a real-world perspective on the challenges of moving pro-active transgender inclusive policy forward.

We have about four months of scheduled legislative session, uninterrupted by hunting breaks or holiday breaks, until the Michigan legislature turns its full attention to the August 2016 primary election season and the political fate of Michigan’s House of Representatives.

With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are focused on family time—celebrating favorite traditions, making new memories or simply basking in the warmth of family and friends.

At the ACLU of Michigan, the gift we wish for most this holiday season is that all of the children in our state have loving homes of their own. And that means making sure that everyone who is qualified have the right to adopt a child or welcome a foster child into their home.

ACLU of Michigan Executive Director Kary Moss today issued the following statement in response to reports that the ACLU of Michigan is not supporting a ballot initiative to update the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

When Charlie Sheen publicly announced that he is a person living with HIV, I was struck by two things: Sheen shared that, since his diagnosis four years ago, he has been on antiretroviral medications and his viral load is currently undetectable (meaning there are so few copies of the HIV virus in his blood that tests cannot register it).

Our case challenging the Secretary of State's policy on changing ID gender markers is moving forward.

Imagine waking up in the body of the opposite sex.

For some people this could be a fun exercise, a chance to trade places with your wife or husband and see the world through a new lens. But what if your gender—the ingrained qualities and characteristics that tells you from birth that you're meant to be male or female—leaves you shut out from this new world view?

Suddenly, pretending to be the opposite sex seems extremely difficult. And when you are a transgender person forced to live as the wrong gender every day, it can be torture.

DETROIT—A federal judge today refused to dismiss an ACLU lawsuit challenging a state policy that makes it nearly impossible for transgender Michiganders to change gender markers on their driver's licenses and state IDs.