Mlive: Gay Rights Advocates Closely Watching Kalamazoo Vote

Andrew Grayson, of Grand Rapids, and other members of One Kalamazoo stand at the corner of Pitcher and Michigan in downtown Kalamazoo on Thursday evening holding signs trying to gain support from people to vote in support of anti-discrimination ordinance. To the left of Grayson is Anna Marek, 18, of Grand Rapids. -- Jonathon Gruenke | The Kalamazoo Gazette

With a mixed track record on the issue in Michigan, local gay rights advocates are closely following Tuesday’s referendum in Kalamazoo on a gay protection ordinance.

Activist Andrew Grayson is taking it one step further.

“I think this would send a message that Kalamazoo is a welcoming place,” said Grayson, a 21-year-old senior at Kalamazoo College and 2006 graduate of East Grand Rapids High School.

As co-leader of the school’s student Democrats, Grayson helped register nearly 400 new voters and is a familiar volunteer at the headquarters of One Kalamazoo, the organization fighting for passage of the measure. He is also co-leader of a student gay advocacy group.

“Were it to lose, it would send a very strong negative message to people. It would be a devastating blow.”
Several Michigan cities, including Grand Rapids, Grand Ledge, Lansing, East Lansing, Detroit and Ann Arbor, have measures protecting gay residents.

When the Grand Rapids City Commission added the phrase “gender orientation” to the city’s civil rights code in 1994, a petition drive fell just 188 signatures short of forcing a citywide vote on the issue.

But Hamtramck voters rejected a similar ordinance a year ago and the Jackson City Council in August rejected an anti-discrimination ordinance aimed at curbing bias on the basis of sexual orientation, HIV status or gender identity.

In Kalamazoo, opponents forced a referendum when a group called Citizens Voting No to Special Rights Discrimination turned in more than 2,000 signatures opposing the measure approved earlier by city commissioners. The ordinance outlaws employment, housing and public-accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification. [READ MORE]