Michigan Department of Civil Rights to host an LGBT anti-discrimination forum in Grand Rapids on Sept. 19

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) is partnering with the Community Relations Commission of Grand Rapids to host a public hearing on the issue of how anti-discrimination ordinances and the LGBTQ community.

The MDCR has already hosted forums in Jackson and in Holland, where hundreds of people came out to express their concerns and tell their stories about how they or someone they know who identifies as LGBTQ are still being discriminated against in Michigan.

The City of Grand Rapids passed an anti-discrimination ordinance to include some protections for the LGBTQ community in 1994, making it just the 10^th city in the country to do so.

However, despite Grand Rapids having such an ordinance, people who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Queer continue to be harassed, intimidated and discriminated against in a variety of ways. The public hearing on September 19 will provide an opportunity for those who are being discriminated against and those who are allies of the LGBTQ community to tell their stories.

According to a Media Release from the Grand Rapids CRC:

The event, co-sponsored by the Grand Rapids Community Relations Commission,

will take place at Grand Rapids Community College, DeVos Campus,  Sneden Hall, Room 108, 415 Fulton SE, Grand Rapids, 49503 from 4 to 6 pm.

Both written and verbal testimony will be accepted. Follow this link to learn more about telling your story http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/ELCRAPrompt2012_385444_7.pdf.

To provide written testimony, please email it to calcagnor@michigan.gov before September 17, 2012. Please indicate if you would like to testify during the hearing.

If you want to attend the hearing and need an accommodation to do so, please notify MDCR at calcagnor@michigan.gov.

For more information on the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, visit www.michigan.gov/mdcr.