“Governor Snyder, we need to talk.”
“We guess you weren’t as tough of a nerd as we thought you would be.”
These are quotes from a radio ad campaign that was launched in Michigan the first week of February. The campaign, created by the Equality Michigan Pride Political Action Committee, charges Michigan governor Rick Snyder with failing to live up to his campaign promise to be “one tough nerd.”
On Dec. 22, 2011, Snyder signed House Bill 4770 into law, which bans health care benefits for domestic partners of public employees; employees can now only extend health care benefits if they are married to their partners. This affects state and local employees, including public school teachers.
Snyder and other legislators call it a “cost-cutting” measure. The law’s supporters estimated that it will cut $8 million a year in health care costs, within the context of a $46 billion state budget that Snyder signed in June.
Though it may be important to cut costs, this method broaches worrying issues of inequality. Same-sex marriage is illegal in Michigan; this is spelled out in a 2004 amendment to the state constitution. Therefore, gay and lesbian state employees are completely unable to extend benefits to partners, as they do not have the choice to get married.
This is why the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan announced on Jan. 5 its decision to challenge the law in court. The ACLU’s case is that the law deprives same-sex couples of their right to equal protection under the law. The Ann Arbor City Council unanimously voted to support the ACLU in the case.
At the forefront of the lawsuit are four couples, including former CHS Dean Peter Ways and his self-employed partner, Joe Breakey. According to the ACLU website, Ways and Breakey, who have a young daughter, are now considering leaving Michigan since Breakey can no longer get benefits.
This demonstrates that the law also has worrying economic implications. The last thing we want is to give people a reason to leave Michigan. This should not affect employees of University of Michigan and other public universities, since, according to Snyder, public universities are granted autonomy by the Michigan Constitution and are exempt from the law. However, the removal of benefits could deprive our state workforce of valuable employees and our school systems of great teachers, like Ways. Driving people away from Michigan will also lose taxpayer money.
However, The Communicator is most concerned with the core of the issue: with the law in place, same-sex couples are denied equal rights. The Michigan government has offered an incentive that requires employees to jump through a certain hoop—marriage. However, by law, the government does not allow same-sex couples to make the jump. We consider this to be unfair.
People may wonder why it is so important for gays and lesbians to have official marriage; why can’t a domestic partnership suffice? This benefits ban is exactly why. Until Michigan same-sex couples can affirm their commitment with marriage, the government will be able to deprive them of benefits and target them in other ways. Gay couples will not be guaranteed the full rights that straight couples have until they are also allowed the fundamental right of marriage.
With House Bill 4770, Snyder had a chance to protect same-sex marriage couples, provide further incentive to stay in Michigan, and prove that really he can be “one tough nerd.” Instead, he denied gay and lesbian couples further rights, and demonstrated exactly why it is so important to legalize same-sex marriage in Michigan.
