Some Macomb County residents and county officials apparently don't realize it's the 21st Century.
Frankly, it's a rather embarrassing display of prejudice.
Chad Selweski of The Macomb Daily writes that a small group Monday night battled county officials who tentatively approved a new policy that would protect gays from discrimination within the county government workforce and contractors.
Selweski writes:
After a long debate, the vote by the county board’s Government Operations Committee was along party lines, with seven Democrats trumping four Republicans to adopt the new rules. The anti-discrimination policy to protect the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender) community still faces a final vote, but it appears enough partisan support exists among the 13 commissioners to follow through.
“This is preferential treatment, and I wonder why we need preferential treatment for this LGBT agenda,” said Jackie Ryan of Sterling Heights, who generated applause from the more than two dozen residents who turned out to oppose the proposed policy. “They … (the LGBT community) have been around for a long time and I don’t see where there has been discrimination against them.”
Other opponents in the crowd said the policy should be put to a countywide vote, that it violates the U.S. and Michigan Constitutions, would force companies to go out of business, and it represents the first step toward the establishment of government “thought police” on gay lifestyles and gender issues.
Those claims were dismissed, the politics columnist adds, and officials said the new policy would only prevent firings, pays disparities and denied promotions based on sexual orientation.
At his Michigan Liberal blog, Eric Baerren comments: "The county's neanderthals came out, knuckles dragging behind them, to bellow opposition."
-- Allan Lengel
