Each week, we run down the most recent civil liberties stories in your Weekly Rights Review.
In the news this week: Oak is our King, basketball players play for equality and cities take positive action on LGBT issues.
Michigan News
- Basketball Players take it to Title IX
Katie McFadden knows what's right and what's fair, and so do the girls she coaches on the Melvindale High girls basketball team. So when they realized that budget cuts were only being made to the girls team and not to the boys, they took action. Watch Katie on WXYZ news below.
To learn more, view the ACLU of Michigan's privacy policy.
- Oak is our King!
Students at Mona Shores High School teamed up with us to change their school's decision to throw out their votes for homecoming king. Why? They had exercised the democratic process to elect Oak Reed, a transgender student. Clearly the students had a more sophisticated notion of gender than the administration, and a Facebook group protesting the decision called Oak is my King quickly racked up thousands of supporters. Happily, the students created a solution just in time for prom. This fall, they'll be able to vote for a gender-neutral prom court. Read about it in the Detroit News and Muskegon Chronicle. - Battle Creek Ahead of the Game on LGBT Rights
Battle Creek has passed an ordinance that bans anti-lgbt discrimination in housing. Michigan’s anti-discrimination law, called the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The ACLU of Michigan is working to get the Elliot-Larsen Act amended, and congratulates Battle Creek on their commitment to equality. - Detroit Students Take a Stand on Bullying
After student activists and the Ruth Ellis Center spoke up, Detroit is poised to enact their first LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying statute. The article from Between the Lines is a surprising tear-jerker. - Talking Discrimination on Craig Fahle
On Thursday, our LGBT Project staff attorney Jay Kaplan was a guest on the Craig Fahle Show. In an interview that starts just before the halfway mark, Jay and Craig discuss the ACLU of Michigan's support for Eastern Michigan University's decision to remove a grad student who refused to counsel LGBT clients.
