A federal judge has ruled unconstitutional a 2011 state law that would have barred many public entities from providing health insurance to domestic partners of their employees, permanently enjoining the law’s enforcement.
Said Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the LGBT Project of the ACLU of Michigan, “I hope this decision marks a turning point in this state and that Lansing will get on the right side of history by passing legislation to finally end discrimination against LGBT persons and their families.”
In striking down the law, U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson found that it discriminated by forcing cities, counties, school districts, and community colleges to cancel family benefits for gay and lesbian employees in committed relationships while heterosexual employees could marry partners to maintain health insurance. Same-sex couples cannot marry in Michigan.
Judge Lawson recognized, as the Supreme Court did, that the Constitution forbids the government from passing laws with a motive to discriminate against gay people.
“We’re breathing a sigh of relief right now,” said Peter Ways, an Ann Arbor teacher whose partner would have lost his benefits. “This law was clearly meant to target families like ours and to make us feel as though we didn’t count.”
In explaining why the law violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection, Judge Lawson noted: “Although majority rule is a bedrock principle of democratic governments, republicanism — the idea that people have certain unalienable rights that cannot be squelched by the majority — is the guiding political philosophy that animates the Constitution. Courts play a vital role in protecting against the tyranny of shifting majorities.”
“The court rightly determined that this policy unconstitutionally discriminated against a minority of Michigan families,” said Amanda C. Goad, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project. “All hardworking public employees and their families should have the peace of mind of being able to look after each other.”
The opinion can be found at www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/2014_LGBT_%20BassetOpinion.pdf
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