The ACLU has advocated on behalf of LGBTQ+ people for more than 70 years, working to create effective policies and a powerful, unified voice among our LGBTQ+ allies. We brought out first LGBTQ+ rights case in 1936 and filed the first-ever freedom-to-marry case in 1970. In addition to our battles in the court, the ACLU of Michigan also promotes LGBTQ+ equality through the state legislature and by way of public education initiatives.
We seek to foster a society in which LGBTQ+ people and people with HIV/AIDS enjoy the basic rights of equality, privacy and personal autonomy, and freedom of expression and association. We hope to achieve these goals by pushing for updated state civil-rights laws, ensuring equal access to benefits and safeguarding the rights and safety of the transgender community. We are also seeking policies that would protect LGBTQ+ families living in poverty and that don’t permit the use of religion as an excuse for discrimination.
