LGBT rally in front of capitol building

Michigan Equality, one of the most prominent gay rights advocacy organizations in the state, is on the move — literally and figuratively. Already the only statewide gay rights group located in the capital city of Lansing, last week it moved its offices from Old Town to a new location right next to the state Capitol building.

This physical move is accompanied by recent changes in leadership. Derek Smiertka resigned late last year as director and was replaced by two co-directors, Michelle Brown and Dr. Julie Nemecek.

Brown is a longtime gay rights activist and the author of several books of prose and poetry. Nemecek is a former professor of education who was fired by Spring Arbor University after coming out as transgendered. Both were members of the organization’s board of directors who have now moved into running the day-to-day operations.

Michigan Equality is really two organizations, one a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the other a political action committee. The nonprofit focuses on educational efforts, while the PAC focuses on lobbying on various bills and supporting candidates who advocate equality for the LGBT community.

Brown says that the move near the Capitol “sends messages both symbolically and factually that we are at the table and take our participation in and influence on the political process, policy and legislation very seriously.”

Brown and Nemecek take over the group in an unusual political climate, fueled by the election of President Barack Obama, by the passage of Prop 8 in California and the resulting anger and divisions it provoked in the LGBT community, and by the political realities of the Michigan Legislature.

They named two priorities for the new legislative session, the passage of the Safe Schools Act to protect students from anti-gay harassment and bullying and the passage of an anti-bias crime law to allow more resources to go into the investigation and punishment of hate crimes in the state.

The primary roadblocks to achieving these goals are in the Michigan Senate, where both bills died after passing the state House last year. Nemecek says Michigan Equality is focused on creating grass-roots change to overcome those difficulties.

“The current political climate in the state Senate makes statewide change very difficult,” she says. “By working to develop change from the grass roots up, I believe that the state will eventually catch up with the positive changes in cities and towns all across the state.”

To that end, the organization is increasingly focused on helping local individuals and organizations fight for equality in their communities.

Just last week, Brown was in Kalamazoo working with local activists to fight for a human rights ordinance that bans discrimination based on several factors, including sexual orientation. The ordinance was passed by the city commission but is now under attack and will be on the ballot as a referendum in the next election.

“We hope these battles crop up all over the state,” Nemecek says. “Because of the political impotence at the state level, these local battles are very important. … We are finding more and more support from civic, religious and educational groups as well as businesses. Many are recognizing that supporting basic human rights is good for business and good for the community.”

Brown agrees and adds, “The battle will be led by locals in each instance, but as a statewide organization we can update, educate the LGBT community and rally them to support these communities while strengthening our resolve to get statewide legislation to protect and defend all of us.”

Last year the LGBT community was divided strongly over how the nation’s largest gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, handled the debate over a proposed federal law called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

HRC agreed to remove language protecting transgendered people from discrimination, arguing that it was necessary for the bill to pass.

This angered many gay rights activists, including Brown, who resigned from HRC’s board of governors in protest.

“To ask our trans brothers and sisters to wait ‘for the next bus to come along’,” says Brown, “is as despicable as segregating African-Americans. Separate but equal didn’t work before, and it doesn’t work now for the LGBT community.”

Both Brown and Nemecek say they are excited about facing the challenges of their new jobs.

“We may lose some battles,” says Nemecek, “but we are confident we will win more than we lose. As Martin Luther King said, ‘The universe is on the side of justice.’”

Brown echoes those sentiments, pledging to continue the fight and to “win for all of our families — one battle at a time, one ordinance at a time, one ballot initiative at a time.”