A landmark ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court held that state law prohibits businesses, landlords and others from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity, The Detroit Free Press reported.
The five-to-two decision will have a sweeping impact in the state, where landlords could evict someone or business owners could fire LGBTQ+ people.
The case ultimately came down to how the justices defined “sex.” Specifically, it involved if that word in the context of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act—a 1976 law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex— refers only to gender, or more broadly to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
“Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily constitutes discrimination because of sex,” wrote Justice Elizabeth Clement, a Republican, for the court’s majority. The Democratic justices—Chief Justice Bridget McCormack and justices Richard Bernstein, Megan Cavanagh and Elizabeth Welch—joined in the majority; Republican justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano dissented.