During the meeting’s public comment, the Mount Pleasant resident, along with several others, proposed an all-inclusive ordinance aimed at preventing discriminatory acts against city residents.

Currently, Mount Pleasant is without such an ordinance and remains the state’s only municipality that is home to a large university and doesn’t have one.

“We’ve done a great deal of our homework, but tonight was not about presenting that,” said Bailey, who is a professor of teacher education and professional development at Central Michigan University. “Tonight was about just making our statement.”

Acting as spokesperson for the crowd of nearly 60, Bailey presented commissioners with a draft ordinance and a letter of support signed by 13 community leaders, 10 business owners, nine clergy and faith groups, and a number of CMU staff and faculty.

She said it demonstrated a “broadness of support” for the movement.

Commissioners were asked to review the draft ordinance and express any concerns with the city manager by the start of next year.

The hope, Bailey said, is to make a formal presentation, equipped with evidence of discrimination in the community, by the end of January. She said they have until then to establish the need.

Commissioner Sharon Tilmann said someone would have to “be living in a cave” not to have heard of an instance of discrimination in Mount Pleasant. But she maintained it was too soon to know how the commission would perceive the ordinance.

“What I do think (is) this commission will be very open-minded. I don’t see us as closed-minded,” Tilmann said. “It works very diligently to do the homework and listen to what the citizens want. If this is an ordinance the time (for which) has come, I think the commission will be sensitive to that.”

Still, Mayor Bruce Kilmer said some legal issues need to be involved in its development.

“I just think we need to refer it to (the city attorney) to see if a city ordinance is an appropriate way to enforce anti-discrimination,” he said.

Part of a larger movement

Bailey preferred not to identify the exact group spearheading the effort, but pointed to a 10-member steering committee that has been researching the issue since April.

It’s also not the first time such a law has been proposed.

Isabella County Commissioner Jim Moreno said he presented a similar idea to the City Commission when he was on it several years ago.

Now, Moreno said the biggest difference is that other communities in Michigan are considering similar policies and the Mount Pleasant movement comes amid a statewide push to include sexual orientation and gender identity in Michigan’s Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act.

Bailey said the statewide effort has spurred much of the local drive, but the proposal before the city includes everything from height, marital status and age, to disability, race and religion.

“The reality is the state already protects everyone else,” she said. “But they don’t protect gender identity and sexual orientation, so many municipalities just let that go. They say, ‘Oh, everyone’s already protected. We don’t need to worry about it.’”

Adopting regulation to protect all demographics would also make students feel safer and more welcome in the community, said Shannon Jolliff, CMU’s director of gay and lesbian programs.

She said there is a need, despite the fact that students are protected inclusively under CMU policy.

“As soon as they step off campus, they are open to potential harassment and discrimination,” Jolliff said. “So when you think of going for a job interview, going to an apartment (complex), what this ordinance will do is provide them that protection.”

Adopting the ordinance came up to the CMU Student Government Association’s House of Representatives the Monday before Thanksgiving, and SGA President Vincent Cavataio said he personally gave his signature to the letter received by the commission.

The Shelby Township senior said he hadn’t heard of any specific examples of students being discriminated against in the community.

“But I do believe there is a need. I think people should be protected should an issue arise,” he said. “I don’t think people being protected is out of line.”

“It seems like something that would be obviously granted to people,” he added.

House Bill 4770, sponsored by state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, passed in the house with a 66-44 margin on Sept. 15 and is now going to the state Senate.

CMU Director of Public Relations Steve Smith said the university allows 22 unmarried employees’ partners to collect benefits.

“We are aware of the legislation and are, like other organizations and institutions, following it very closely,” Smith said. “We are unable to speculate on any impact during the legislative process.”

By allowing partner benefits, Agema said it goes against the Defense of Marriage Act, and the Michigan Attorney General opinion from 2005 that stated civil servants and public employees may not receive same sex or unmarried benefits.

“It’s simply a matter of law as given to us by the people, the AG and the Supreme Court,” Agema said.  ”It only affects public employees. It’s also a matter of costs we can’t afford.”

He said the original amount the legislation could save is $8 million statewide.

Agema said someone can still receive benefits if they are married, are a relative living with the person and are a dependent, or have the right to inherit under the Michigan law of intestacy.

But those who oppose the legislation believe this is an attack on the LGBT community, said James Jones, professor of foreign languages, literatures and cultures and co-chair of the Association of Lesbian and Gay Faculty and Staff.

“This measure would save a pittance,” Jones said. “It would discourage GLBT people from taking jobs in this state. It would discourage GLBT people from remaining in Michigan. Why stay in a place where people treat you with such disrespect?”

He said it represents yet another mean-spirited attempt to separate groups of Michigan citizens for special mistreatment because a politician sees them as objects to be used to gain votes.

The numbers of public employees that have taken advantage of these benefits are very small, Jones said. He said the cost of the benefits is so great because they are taxable; therefore few LGBT employees make use of them.

Benefits for domestic partnerships were supposed to begin this October after a vote by the Civil Service Commission earlier this year.

Republicans failed to overturn the decision because they were not able to get the two-thirds majority vote needed in the House.

“This is a major disincentive,” Jones said. “Only those who have partners and family members who themselves have no health insurance would make use of these benefits. They would bear the brunt of losing health insurance, which could mean losing access to medical care.”

President Justin Gawronski, a Macomb sophomore, said Spectrum works to create visibility for the LGBT community on campus and educate students on issues to decrease ignorance.

Formerly the Gay-Straight Alliance, Spectrum changed their name because they felt it was too exclusive, and their mission is to be inclusive with everyone.

“It better represents what we are, including those who identity with LGBT and allies as well,” Gawronski said.

This year during Homecoming Week, Spectrum will play an important role in Coming Out Week, which Gawronski said is a time to provide extra comfort and support for those trying to find and bring forth their sexual identity.

The week will include events like queer monologue performances, poet Andrea Gibson, drag queen bingo and coming out at Kaya Coffee & Tea Co., 1029 S. University St., house where students can share their story.

“We want to create more visibility for the LGBT community and put it out there that Spectrum exists and we’re here for any support needed, or if you want to become an advocate, become more tolerant, ask questions, promote tolerance or just make CMU a safer place,” Gawronski said.

Jon Humiston, adviser for Spectrum and student ombuds officer, President’s Office Assistant, has been involved in the LGBT community since his undergraduate studies in 1992. Humiston said he believes the club makes a positive influence on the community

“They help raise awareness about the LGBT community, and they’re a big part in making campus safer,” he said.

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday sharply revised downward its estimate of the number of same-sex households across the country, reflecting confusion over how to accurately count gay and lesbian couples that have gained varying degrees of legal recognition of their partnerships over the past decade.

Unlike with factors such as race, gender and household income, the Census Bureau doesn’t attempt to count gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. Only in the 2000 census did it start to count same-sex households, and demographers say the wording of the forms may have led to an unusually high number of inaccurate responses.

The bureau said there were approximately 646,000 same-sex households in the United States in 2010. It originally counted more than 900,000 same-sex households in 2010, but then estimated that as much as 28 percent of that count was actually opposite-sex.

“I applaud the bureau for trying to provide the most accurate information,” said Gary Gates, a demographer at the University of California-Los Angeles who specializes in the gay and lesbian population and reviewed the Census Bureau’s revisions. “The problem is, people can make mistakes.”

In spite of the downward revision, Gates said the census might have actually undercounted same-sex couples.

“I’ve been one of the voices saying to the bureau that ‘the way you’re measuring has serious problems,’” he said.

He suggested changing the wording from husband/wife or unmarried partner, combined with sex variables, that the form currently uses. He suggested using the simpler categories used in Canada and Great Britain for couples: Opposite-sex husband/wife, Same-sex husband/wife.

“It’s a way to get much more accuracy,” Gates said. “Unless they do that, they’re never going to fix this problem.”

But, he said, there could be political problems with that wording because of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages, though it doesn’t prevent individual states from recognizing them.

The Obama administration stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this year and called for its repeal, prompting Republican leaders in the House of Representatives to mount their own defense of the law, passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Gay and lesbian couples have seen tremendous changes since the 2000 census, which counted about 358,000 same-sex households. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the remaining state laws that criminalized same-sex activity; gay couples gained marriage rights or marriage-like rights in several states; and just last week, the U.S. military ended its longstanding prohibition on openly gay service members.

Public opinion has shifted. An Associated Press and National Constitution Center poll recently showed that 53 percent of Americans supported giving marriage rights to same-sex couples, with 47 percent opposed. A higher number, 57 percent, supported giving the same government benefits to same-sex married couples as opposite-sex ones.

Evan Wolfson, the founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a group that’s been working toward full marriage rights for gays and lesbians in all 50 states, said the “imperfect information” released by the census shows that there are gay couples in every corner of the country and points to the need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

“We live in families. We are starting to have legal respect for those families, and many of us are getting married,” he said. “The sooner the law stops treating these families unequally, the better.”

Nusrat Ventimiglia, Equality Michigan director of victim services, said 132 cases of violence against gay and transgender residents were reported to their organization in 2010. Equality Michigan offers support services to people who have been victims of anti-gay violence.

These violent crimes have included assaults, threats, bullying and physical harm, she said.

People who were simply perceived to be gay have also been harmed. It is the intent behind the act that makes it different from any other crime, Ventimiglia said.

“The idea behind it is to hurt more than just an individual, but a whole group,” she said. “It is targeting someone for who they are and subjecting them to violence because of that.”

Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said he has no knowledge of these crimes being reported to his individual department.

This is good news for Isabella County since Michigan is an especially hostile environment right now for gay and transgender citizens, said Michael Gregor, director of communications for Equality Michigan.

“There have been attacks by legislators and radical conservatives out to deny gay and transgender people (participation) in society in Michigan,” he said. “A lot of other states are understanding fairness and equality, unlike Michigan.”

Gregor said legislators do not understand the challenges both gay and transgender residents face because they are unwilling to learn about them.

“They only welcome people in Michigan who are like them, act like them, look the same way — anyone who doesn’t, doesn’t get the benefits of a citizen,” he said.

Ventimiglia said people cannot be discriminated against under the Ethnic Intimidation Act based on race, color, national origin, religion and sex, but it does not include gender expression or sexual orientation.

She said the most common problem is discrimination, especially in housing and employment.

“In Michigan it is perfectly okay for private employers to discriminate on gender expression and even fire people because of it,” she said.

Gregor said unmarried gay and transgender partners can even be denied health care benefits by employers, though it is determined on a case by case basis.

“Most public universities, state employees, school districts and city government do provide these benefits to them and I believe Central Michigan University does,” Gregor said.

Gregor said students facing or who have faced this type of violence should report it to Equality Michigan. It is important for the organization to keep track of LGBT hate crime statistics in Michigan, he said.

The SGA passed a resolution Monday night in support of the measure.

Co-President of Transcend Shawn McKeever said he was surprised at the number of questions and support from the audience. Many people asked what they could do to help, he said.

“Hopefully this will generate publicity and student support, allowing students to see gender-neutral housing as a viable option,” said Owosso senior Sarah Winchester, political chair of Spectrum.

Transcend member Ryan Quinn said he was pleased with the result of vote.

“I definitely did not expect the vote to be unanimous (in the House),” the Walled Lake senior said.

The proposal from last April was generally outlined and information from other universities that have implemented this type of housing was presented, Winchester said.

The topic was briefly discussed at last week’s SGA meeting but was not voted on until Monday.

“While CMU says they help transgender students on a case by case basis, there is nothing in writing,” said Kylee Meade, Roseville senior and Transcend member. “SGA has put this issue up to the next tier.”

The Office of Residence Life has given assurance that the transgender policy will go into effect, Meade said.

“I have worked with (Residence Life) on the wording of the proposal to assure the message is clear as to what their goal is in working with our transgender students,” said Shannon Jolliff, director of gay and lesbian programs in an emailed statement.

One of the ideas presented is an option included on residence hall forms asking students if they are comfortable living with a student from the LGBT community.

“I’m just wondering how people feel about the LGBT option on Residence Life forms,” Meade said.

Meade said implementing gender-neutral housing is more important than ever right now because of budget cuts, which affect how CMU accommodates each student.

“The way of handling transgender students uncomfortable with their living situations was to put them in a room alone,” Meade said. “While that solution is accommodating those people, it leaves empty space in those rooms that need to be filled.”

McKeever agreed with Meade and said CMU would not want to lose students simply because it cannot accommodate their living needs.

“I’m (a resident assistant) for next semester and have been accommodated really well,” Meade said. “That alone shows how progressive Residence Life can be.”

McKeever said the presentation to SGA hopefully persuaded students who were on the fence about gender-neutral housing.

“It’s not about political ideology, it’s about helping your fellow students,” McKeever said.

McKeever said the next step is to take the issue to administration with the help not only of SGA, but also the office of gay and lesbian programs.

Meade said there is one important thing for students who do not agree with gender-neutral housing to know.

“You may not agree with my lifestyle or the choice I am making, but we just want to live as comfortably as possible,” Meade said. “I hope people empathize with us.”

Any other course of action by the university would have elevated Ward’s personal convictions superior to the common good of the campus and insult government responsibility.

EMU said Ward was dismissed not for religious beliefs, but for disregarding the assigned curriculum and professional ethics guidelines, according to the American Counseling Association. After a federal judge upheld the university’s decision last July, Ward appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In response, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a brief supporting Ward, while nine public universities — including Central Michigan University — filed a brief supporting EMU.

If the appellate court rules in favor of Ward, universities argue in the brief they will have to “fashion their curricular requirements around the religious, political, social, philosophical and ideological beliefs and expressions of each and every student.”

The implications of this scenario would cripple a professor’s right to instruct without bias on topics like evolution in biology classes, the role of spouses and parents in family studies courses, the social influences of religion in history classes and virtually every other class offered in a higher education course.

This case’s precedent would put religious beliefs above the law and other First Amendment guarantees if Ward wins. If a counselor can deny health services to a LGBT student for religious purposes, then would it not follow that academic and financial advisers could do the same thing?

If a LGBT student does not have the right to counseling or advising at a public university, then would it not follow that other minority groups could face the same discrimination under the umbrella of religion?

This chilling reality is what Ward is asking the U.S. judiciary to constitutionalize.

The Supreme Court has ruled that a law or regulation that is otherwise lawful cannot be ruled unconstitutional simply because a religious person disagrees with it.

Also, the religious clause of the First Amendment has never been interpreted to protect a person’s right to use their religious beliefs as an excuse to deny publicly-funded counseling services to someone because of their sexual orientation.

Ward’s case is an egregious assault on what the religious clause of the First Amendment actually protects. Her discomfort with providing a professional service to a LGBT student because of EMU’s policy is not a compelling reason to interpret the First Amendment as an absolute guarantee that one’s religion warrants their arbitrary disregard for the law.

By enforcing its policy, EMU is protecting its interest to ensure its students have uninhibited access to publicly funded counseling. No constitution-abiding court could rule against that logic.

To do so would be to gut decades of precedent and redefine the First Amendment.

Mary Senter, director of the Center for Applied Research and Rural studies, said the survey takes about 15 minutes to complete and is expected to be ongoing for 10 to 14 days.

“You may or may not be gay yourself, but you have an opinion on it,” she said. “The general thing is to find out about student experiences and the climate in which students live and work.”

Senter said the goal is to complete 400 interviews, which the class has always been able to achieve in the past.

SOC 350 classes have been conducing similar surveys every semester since 2002, focusing on different topics every time.

“In the past, we’ve explored racial and ethnic diversity at CMU,” said Midland graduate student Eric O’Rourke, who supervises the interviewers. “But now, we’re focusing on issues in the LGBT community at CMU.”

The survey, he said, asks questions about gender roles and the issue of sexism, as well.

“We have to sign a confidentiality form, so that we won’t give up anyone’s name or their answers,” said Waterford junior Chelsea Warner, who is one of the students conducting interviews.

Warner said she hopes the information will be used to come up with programs that are needed, or at the very least used to see what issues need more attention at CMU.

“I was very skeptical when I came in because I thought most students wouldn’t want to talk,” Warner said, “but people are more willing to talk than I thought they would be.”

After the data is collected, the students will write a report on the results, which she will give to Provost Gary Shapiro and appear on CMU’s website.

This year, students commented and critiqued the questions, Senter said, but did not actually write them.

The students work out of the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing Lab on the third floor of Anspach Hall.

His presidency was not all that. During his administration, many died of a disease that still devastates the lives of millions around the world today.

Larry Speakes, Reagan’s deputy press secretary, joked about the AIDS epidemic during a press briefing on Oct. 15, 1982. That was because the great conservative man who brought values back to government distanced himself from this plague.

Reagan, who created the conservative movement Sarah Palin and other cronies bellow about today, could not show compassion to men dying because of their “immoral” lifestyle.

If we talk about the man’s presidency on his 100th birthday, let’s talk about every aspect.

I am not out to dishonor the name of Reagan. I am here to shine light on a moment in history. If Reagan would have acted sooner this moment might not have been as dark to me.

It was a time when a small-town teenaged boy dealing with homosexuality believed because he was gay his future meant a terrible death.

It was a time of fear. It was bad enough believing I was not normal. Then I had to watch news reports come in around the country about gay men dying from this disease no one seemed to know much about.

The lack of knowledge bred a fear in me and from that my closet became even more secure. I listened to parents and relatives laugh and joke about the gay disease.

Family members and people throughout the small town talk about rounding “those people” up and placing them on an island to let them die. With that the secret went deeper inside a kid in school struggling to understand why God created him this way.

I ask myself when I look back, “Where were you, the great Ronald Reagan, where were you then?”

Not a single peep from him publicly as people continued to die in the gay community.

In fact, Reagan did not publicly speak or mention the word AIDS once, even when the annual death toll in the U.S. rose from 234 in 1981 to 5636 in 1985.

In 1985, film star Rock Hudson dies of AIDS and Reagan mentions the disease in public for the first time in response to a reporter’s questions on Sept. 17.

So, pardon me if I don’t get all excited when it comes time to remember the presidency of Ronald Reagan on his 100th birthday.

He did nothing for the LGBT community and that is his legacy to me — a legacy that produced one terrified kid growing up in the `80s.