So, I stumbled upon this article. I believe it is true. It wouldn't really surprise me much. SodaHead - Michigan Senate Passes Bill To Protect Anti-Gay Bullies It is a bill that would, if put in place, legally allow discrimination and harassment against LGBT Students by Students, Teachers, and Administrators due to "Religious Differences." This honestly disgusts me. It's pathetic. I truly hope that this Bill is not turned into a law.
If it does get passed, and the intent of the legisltion is indeed to to shield those who discriminate against another group of people in society because they are LGBT, they it won't be unchallenged for long. The way it sounds, it pretty much comes off as unconstitutional. LGBT groups, the ACLU & any constitutional lawyer worth his or her salt will be all over this travesty. And for the record, even if it does pass, what are they thinking!?! Religious differences? Last time I checked, it was illegal to discriminate against someone because of religious differences as well. Whoever wrote this legislation obviously has no idea what the Constitution says in it...
I suspect this won't make it past a constitutional test, otherwise one could couch every form of hate speech as "religious differences." On the other hand, with some of the asshats currently on the Supremes, I suppose anything is possible.
Despite frequently being a blue state, I have noticed that my state is regularly homophobic. Yay, Michigan.
I heard of this a while ago. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, etc. have religious differences, but they can get along just fine, those differences notwithstanding. The use of religious differences and freedom of religion to justify bullying is dishonest and frankly pretty disturbing if you think about all the times in history when one group uses this argument to justify persecuting another group.
Disgusted. Heartbroken on behalf of the LGBT community in Michigan. This is what I find so frustrating about US law... the inconsistencies at the federal and state levels. Gays can get married in one state but not another. The death penalty for murder is mandatory in one state but not another. LGBT discrimination is legally permissible in one state and not others. The hypocrisy beggars belief. Shame on the government of Michigan for bringing themselves into disrepute, for even suggesting such a toxic piece of legislation that holds back freedoms instead of advancing them. Shame on you.
Stephen Colbert said it best “all-knowing, all-loving creator who made all things and hates some of them” The Word - Bully Pulpit - The Colbert Report - 2011-09-11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central
ProfMTH, who is a gay rights activist and a law professor (I think Constitutional law, but am not sure), disagrees that the bill is a license to bully. The first half of the video is on whether it violates the establishment clause of the first amendment. The second half, beginning around 3:20, argues that the bill does not permit bullying. [YOUTUBE]XRAtDvUmTrc[/YOUTUBE]
