Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a
Republican, refuses to say whether he opposes people being fired
based on their sexual orientation.
On Thursday, several reporters pushed
Snyder on the issue, Mlive.com
reported.
“Is it acceptable in Michigan that
someone can be fired from their job because they are gay or perceived
as gay?” a reporter asked.
“Well, again, in terms of people
being fired for no good reason, again, that's always an issue, that
shouldn't happen,” Snyder answered.
“Is being fired because you're gay or
perceived as gay one of those issues?”
“Again, you have issues where you
want to see people have an opportunity to have a career.”
When pushed on whether being gay was
“no good reason,” Snyder said that the issue was a hypothetical.
“Well again, that's a broad
statement,” Snyder answered, “so it'd depend on the particular
facts of the situation . That's a hypothetical, that's very general
in that context.”
“People are being fired because
they're gay though, that's not hypothetical. An employer can do
that. That's not a hypothetical situation, that's a real situation
...”
“The question is how should
government be involved in that process and how active, so again
that's where I'm happy to work with the Legislature as they're
willing to look at those kind of issues.”
“But you're not going to lead on that
issue,” the reporter stated.
“At this point in time, I've got a
number of other things that I've had as priorities,” Snyder
responded.
Michigan lawmakers are currently not
debating a bill which seeks workplace protections based on sexual
orientation.