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First LGBTQ statewide official in Mich. seeks re-election

Dana Nessel elected attorney general in 2018

Published

4 years ago

on

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks at the Michigan state Capitol in Lansing, Mich., during a Pride event on June 26, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Nessel's office)

In such a political swing state as Michigan has emerged to be in recent elections, the presence of an out LGBTQ statewide official for the last four years — a first in the state’s history — has been as much of a political anomaly for the region as it’s been a cultural one.

Running for re-election in November after becoming the state’s first LGBTQ candidate to be elected to statewide office, Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has sought to use her office and identity as an out, married lesbian to advocate for LGBTQ equality.

Prior to her run for office, she had been involved in LGBTQ legal advocacy efforts in the state, having served as co-counsel in the 2014 DeBoer v. Snyder case that briefly ruled Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in the leadup to the U.S. Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.

For Nessel, an importance surrounding the representation she has provided to other members of Michigan’s LGBTQ community has remained throughout her first term in office.

“Especially for younger generations, it allows for people to see that you can be an openly gay person and be successful in public life,” Nessel told the Washington Blade. “I have never hid who I was, I made every effort to ensure that people sort of have a little insight into my background and also see my family — [I’m] as proud of my family as any person who’s in an opposite-sex marriage — and to see that you can succeed and you can win a statewide election even in a very purple state as long as you have the right policies and as long as you’re willing to put in the work.”

Defeating then-Michigan House of Representatives Speaker Tom Leonard, Nessel was elected in 2018 as part of a wave of Democratic ascensions to offices across the nation. She ran, in part, on her experience as a prosecutor and one of the state’s top civil rights lawyers on issues relating to LGBTQ equality.

Since then, she has worked with other top officeholders to advance causes involving statewide civil rights efforts and promises made during her initial campaign. Her partnership with officials including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has spanned issues ranging from abortion access to defending Michigan election systems in the wake of the 2020 presidential election and subsequent allegations of widespread voter fraud in the state.

Now entering the final months of her re-election campaign against Republican opponent and Kalamazoo attorney Matt DePerno, the attorney general has remained at the epicenter of efforts to establish additional protections for the state’s LGBTQ community. In a case currently pending in the Michigan Supreme Court, Nessel has argued for an interpretation of the language in the state’s Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act to expand its prohibition on discrimination to include an individual’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

Given the state’s history with regard to progress on LGBTQ rights, the importance of such litigation and the attorney general’s role, Nessel said, remains paramount.

“If you look at Michigan, every right that an LGBTQ person has in this state was won in a court battle because, legislatively, we’ve never passed anything that was helpful to the [LGBTQ] community, only laws that are harmful to the community,” Nessel said.

But following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn the nationwide right to abortion, Nessel says she is also prepared to stand against challenges to Michigan residents’ rights to privacy in other areas including sexual intimacy.

In the event of the Supreme Court ruling to overturn its 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas that established a nationwide right to same-sex intimacy and privacy regarding consensual sex acts, Nessel said that she would take multiple approaches to ensuring the right — which would affect both same- and opposite-sex couples’ ability to engage in certain private sex acts — remained.

“If Lawrence v. Texas were overturned, it’s not just that I would fight, whether testifying before the legislature or using the bully pulpit to talk about how egregious the thought is of being able to basically prosecute people for something that takes place in the privacy of their own bedroom with another consenting adult and how horrendous that is,” Nessel said. “But then, I myself would refuse to prosecute any sodomy cases.”

With the attorney general’s position as the state’s top law enforcement official, charged with bringing cases in the courts on behalf of the state, critics have characterized such moves as a neglect of duty.

Following the announcement in late June of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs, DePerno released a statement criticizing Nessel’s messaging that she would not prosecute abortion-related cases should the practice once again become criminalized in the state.

“It is deeply troubling that Dana Nessel pledged to not enforce the opinion of the Supreme Court even before their announcement this morning,” DePerno said. “We cannot have an attorney general who believes she is better than the Supreme Court and the law.”

Pointing to laws rarely tried by county or state prosecutors, such as Michigan’s ban on adultery, Nessel, however, argued that such is a matter of prioritizing her department’s resources to best serve and aid her constituents.

“There are so many laws on the books that it’s your prosecutorial discretion as to whether or not you want to bring those cases,” Nessel said. “To me, my priority is protecting the health, the safety and the welfare of my constituents and prosecuting abortion cases — that’s going to jeopardize the lives of women and not assist them. Prosecuting sodomy cases — I don’t know who I’m benefiting if I were to engage in that.”

In the face of vast legal uncertainty that has now gripped the nation, coupled with a looming election day in November, she said that she intends to continue doing such.

“I expect my office to be very active in protecting LGBTQ rights which is what we’ve done since literally the minute I took office,” Nessel said.

The most recent WDIV/Detroit News polling conducted in early July currently places Nessel with a seven-point lead over DePerno, with almost 17 percent of voters undecided.

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Michigan

Progressives score victory as El-Sayed wins Mich. Senate primary

Democratic newcomer will face Rogers in November

Published

3 weeks ago

on

August 5, 2026

By

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (Screen capture via MS NOW/YouTube)

Michigan held its primary on Tuesday, allowing the two major political parties to select their nominees to go head-to-head for the state’s U.S. Senate seat.

NBC News called the Democratic race early, giving the victory to physician Abdul El-Sayed over incumbent U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in an extremely close primary. El-Sayed won 48.5 percent of the primary vote, with Stevens trailing by just one percentage point at 47.5 percent.

Both candidates have campagined on supporting the LGBTQ community through different avenues— for El-Sayed he focused on his past promoting HIV and PrEP funding and research. Stevens focused on her legislative history working to support transgender rights in the state.

This is a major win for progressive Democrats, who have been bearing the brunt of political attacks from President Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and centrist Democrats.

El-Sayed, a former health director in Detroit, ran his campaign largely on making life in the Great Lakes State more affordable amid rising costs. His policies include promoting “Medicare for All,” pushing health policy that targets the regressive efforts of the Trump-Vance administration that rolls back funding for both Women and LGBTQ people, minimizing the growing amount of money in politics, and he was very vocal in his criticism of Stevens for supporting aid to Israel. He was endorsed by two major progressives — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Stevens, the four-term congresswoman, is much closer to establishment Democrats on policy than El-Sayed.

During her time in the federal government, she has consistently supported the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She has also emphasized supporting local manufacturing and lowering housing costs in the state.

She was named to Advocates for Trans Equality’s 118th Congressional Champions list for her pro-trans policies and was endorsed by establishment heavy hitters Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The contentious race boiled down not only to Michigan affairs but also extended to international conflicts — namely Palestine. (South Africa has filed a case in the International Court of Justice in The Hague that accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip after Oct. 7.) This primary also acted as one of the first major races that pushed back against AIPAC, a lobbying group that works to promote pro-Israel candidates in U.S. elections. The group has been involved in domestic politics since 1954.

AIPAC devoted a massive amount of money to this race.

The Associated Press reported that the pro-Israel lobbying group spent more than $30 million on ads against El-Sayed because of his vocal denunciation of Israel and his continued criticism of its policies towards Palestine.

Michigan has a large Muslim and Arab American population, which could, in part, explain how El-Sayed was able to win.

The Republican side was far less competitive. Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) ran unopposed and clinched the GOP nomination. He has consistently held anti-LGBTQ positions, going as far as voting multiple times for a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, voting against repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and supporting efforts to directly target the attempted expansion of Title IX protections to include trans people.

El-Sayed will face off against Rogers in November for Michigan’s Senate seat — one that could have lasting impacts not only on the state’s politics but also on the Republicans’ narrow Senate majority and Trump’s political agenda.

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Michigan

FBI thwarts Halloween terror plot targeting Mich. LGBTQ bars

Two suspects arrested with arsenal of weapons and tactical gear

Published

10 months ago

on

November 4, 2025

By

Woodward Avenue in Ferndale, Mich. (Photo by Andrew Potter)

Pride Source published this story on Nov. 3. The Washington Blade is republishing it with permission.

By SARAH BRICKER HUNT | Two men are facing federal terrorism charges after allegedly planning a Halloween attack on LGBTQ+ bars in Ferndale, according to criminal complaints unsealed in federal court Nov. 3.

Momed Ali and Majed Mahmoud were arrested Oct. 31 by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which seized tactical gear, AR-15-style rifles, ammunition and other evidence from a Dearborn home and an Inkster storage unit. The 72-page complaint says the men, along with other co-conspirators including a minor, were inspired by Islamic State extremism and had scouted LGBTQ+ venues in Ferndale.

According to the New York Post, the suspects discussed copying the November 2015 coordinated ISIS attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Surveillance footage from gun ranges shows Ali and Mahmoud practicing shooting with firearms, the Post reports.

The Paris attacks involved gunmen and suicide bombers who launched coordinated assaults on multiple locations throughout the French capital, including the Bataclan concert hall, the Stade de France stadium and several restaurants and cafes. The Bataclan attack was the deadliest, with attackers opening fire on concertgoers and taking hostages.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that the suspects discussed doing “the same thing as France” in reference to the Paris attacks, and mentioned potential attacks at clubs or discos similar to the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people. Investigators discovered the suspects repeatedly referred to “pumpkins” in their conversations, which authorities identified as code for a Halloween-themed attack.

Ali purchased a shotgun, an AR-15-style rifle and a forced reset trigger that increases the rate of fire in semiautomatic weapons, according to federal documents. Mahmoud purchased an AR-15-style rifle and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition.

In September, Ali, Mahmoud and the minor made multiple trips to Ferndale, traveling to an area on Woodward Avenue near East Nine Mile that includes numerous clubs and bars that attract members of the LGBTQ+ community, according to the FBI.

“Our American heroes prevented a terror attack,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X following the arrests.

Both men have been charged with receiving and transferring guns and ammunition for terrorism and appeared in court Nov. 3. One defense attorney declined to comment, while another dismissed the allegations over the weekend as “hysteria” and “fearmongering.”

Popular Ferndale LGBTQ+ bar Soho posted to Facebook following news of the arrests.

“Soho is aware of recent reports concerning a potential threat directed toward businesses in our area. While it appears we were not targeted directly, we commend and deeply appreciate the swift and thorough response of local and federal law enforcement agencies in addressing the matter and ensuring the safety of our community,” the statement read.

The bar emphasized its confidence in local law enforcement. “We have always felt safe in the Ferndale community thanks to our close relationship with local law enforcement and their ongoing diligence and support.”

Soho’s statement also condemned targeting the LGBTQ+ community: “It is abhorrent that the LGBTQ+ community would ever be targeted — a community that stands for tolerance, unity, and peace.”

The bar confirmed its operations continue as normal and expressed gratitude for community support.

Meanwhile, Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter posted to Facebook, “Learning that Ferndale and the LGBTQ+ community were among the potential targets of a terrorist attack is disturbing. The pain of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy in Orlando nine years ago while I was serving as mayor of Ferndale is still deeply felt in the community. I’m grateful for the FBI, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement for their diligence in seeking out and preventing what could have been another mass tragedy.”

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Michigan

Mich. lawmaker introduces resolution asking SCOTUS to overturn Obergefell

Far-right lawmaker stripped from committee assignments for extreme rhetoric

Published

1 year ago

on

February 25, 2025

By

marriage equality, Supreme Court, gay news, Washington Blade
Vin Testa in front of the U.S. Supreme Court waves a Pride flag after the justices issued their Obergefell v. Hodges decision on June 26, 2015. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Republican Michigan state Rep. Josh Schriver introduced a resolution Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which established the nationwide right to same-sex marriage.

The lawmaker announced the move in a post on X, having previously shared a press release announcing plans to file the resolution, which argues that same-sex marriage is “at odds with the sanctity of marriage, the Michigan constitution, and principles upon which the country was established.”

Schriver’s resolution has 12 co-sponsors, and similar measures have been introduced in other states including Idaho, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Responding to one of his posts advocating for the overturning of Obergefell in December, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said “any attempt to strip away gay marriage is wrong.”

Last month, the far-right politician was heard telling colleagues in leaked audio that gender affirming healthcare should be banned for minors as well as adults: “If we are going to stop this for anyone under 18, why not apply it for anyone over 18? It’s harmful across the board and that’s something we need to take into consideration in terms of the endgame.”

Earlier this month, he proposed banning birth control and reposted a message promoting the white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory, the latter leading to Michigan House Minority Leader Matt Hall’s (R) decision to remove Schriver from his committee assignments.

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