WASHINGTON – Today, ignoring the outcry around the nation to stop the attacks on LGBT people and their families, the Michigan Senate passed three dangerously broad and extreme anti-LGBT adoption bills that would enshrine special taxpayer-funded discrimination into Michigan law. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, urged Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to veto the toxic legislation that is now headed to his desk.

“Governor Snyder has the opportunity not to repeat the mistakes of Indiana Governor Pence,” said HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse. “Fair-minded Michiganders, corporations, business leaders, and major child advocacy organizations are united in saying this kind of extreme legislation is flat out wrong and sends the wrong message about the future of Michigan. Governor Snyder absolutely must veto this virulently anti-LGBT legislation.”

Working in coordination with the ACLU of Michigan and Equality Michigan, HRC first sounded the alarm on these anti-LGBT adoption bills in December of last year, again in April, and activated our members and supporters in the state to contact their representatives to vote against these dangerous bills. HRC also organized a coalition of major child advocacy groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Education Association, to speak out against these extreme anti-LGBT adoption bills – bills that would allow taxpayer-funded discrimination against committed and loving LGBT couples. It would also allow a religious adoption agency from a non-Christian faith to deny service to a straight, Christian couple. A single parent seeking to foster a child in need could be turned away no questions asked.

In the wake of 2015’s rash of anti-LGBT bills, corporate leaders from around the United States have weighed in to declare that such bills are bad for business, with dozens of corporations signing on to HRC’s “Equality is Our Business” pledge. An overwhelmingly large list of technology leaders, including titans of the industry, have also joined HRC in speaking out against “proposed bills and existing laws that would put the rights of minorities at risk.”

Showcasing a poll following the anti-LGBT fiasco in Indiana, HRC released a case study highlighting the tremendous political and business fallout suffered in the state. That poll showed that a stunning 75 percent of Hoosiers report that Gov. Mike Pence’s push for the “religious refusal” bill has damaged Indiana’s business climate. This case study was sent to Michigan state lawmakers, most of whom, judging by today’s vote, ignored the warnings.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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