LANSING – The U.S. Supreme Court
ruling holding that state prohibitions on same-sex marriage violate the U.S.
Constitution could mean that married same-sex couples in Michigan can find
protection from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations
under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, attorney Richard McLellan said
Monday.
However, that protection would be
narrow and fail to fully protect them from discrimination on the basis of their
sexual orientation.
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act
prohibits discrimination against a variety of classes, such as race, religion
and gender as well as marital status.
McLellan said a married gay couple,
if denied housing or public accommodations – or if one or both members of the
couple were fired – on the basis of the entity in question opposing gay
marriage, could file a complaint under the civil rights act.
However, if the firing, denial of
housing or refusal of public accommodations was based only on the person being
gay or lesbian, that would remain legal, McLellan said.
“If you have a wedding chapel
that you hold out to the public to rent for weddings, can you deny a gay couple
that wants to get married there?” he asked. “I would say no you
cannot.”
McLellan said it will take
considerable time and cases to sort out all the implications.
“It’s not over by any
means,” he said. “The biggest issue is going to be this interface
between religious liberty and also the constitutional right of equal protection
for gay people that want to get married. You may have two constitutional rights
that clash from time to time. Should one give way to the other is the kind of
issue we’re going to get.”
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