A Michigan Republican state
senator, Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, has broken with his party in order to
sponsor an amendment to the state’s 1988 Ethnic Intimidation Act to include
sexual
orientation and gender identity. That act forms the basis of Michigan laws
pertaining to bias crimes, perhaps better known as hate crimes, in which the
crime is perpetrated wholly or in part because of a bias against the victim.
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| Michigan senator Rick Jones has introduced new hate crime legislation in light of the Orlando shooting. |
The senator has, in the past,
abstained from hate crimes legislation, stating he didn’t see a need to change
the law. But after the Orlando shooting and a series of robberies and assaults
perpetuated against gay men in Michigan, he has come to realize that there is a
need for legal protections of LGBTQ+ people that the state has not yet signed
into law.
Michigan currently has a
Republican dominated state legislature, but this legislation will be the first with
potential to move through the Senate since 1998. Should it pass and amend the
1988 law, Michigan would join 17 other states, as well as the District of
Colombia, which have hate crime laws that protect gender identity and sexual
orientation.
There is also a law in Michigan
which require police to compile annual reports on bias crimes in the state,
which include crimes biased against gay people, but does not yet include
transgendered people. This data at least allows us to have an idea of how
frequent such crimes are, and Jones, as well as his Democrat co-sponsor Steve
Bieda are convinced that they happen often enough to warrant amending the
state’s laws.
The Michigan state legislature
does not return to session until September, so this piece of legislation will
likely see a final vote after the end of election season, which may result in a
different makeup of senators and representatives than are currently sitting.
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