No Longer Legal In Kalamazoo To Discriminate Based On Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity KALAMAZOO, MI (Michigan Radio) - Voters in Kalamazoo have approved a new ordinance to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people against discrimination.

Several other Michigan cities, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing and Grand Rapids already had the protections in place.

Cities have added protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people because those groups are not included in state or federal anti-discrimination laws.

Max Tibbitts says the new ordinance in Kalamazoo will give people a course of action if they face discrimination.

"When my partner and I moved here 20-some years ago, we couldn't rent a one-bedroom apartment as two men," Tibbitts says. "Now, no one could stop us. It means everything."

Opponents of the ordinance said it would give special rights to a new group of people, and create inequality.

Contact Dustin Dwyer at dtdwyer@umich.edu.

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