Lansing – Former Michigan House spokesman Lee Chatfield, a Republican who is the new head of an economic development organization in southwest Michigan, says he will support the expansion of the state’s civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination to disallow.
Last week, Southwest Michigan First, the group that hired Chatfield as CEO, was publicly criticized by critics for protecting civil rights after former Republican lawmakers had previously spoken out against the reform.
In a statement Thursday, Chatfield said the Southwest Michigan First Board voted in 2017 to amend the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Those are the values of this company and, as CEO, I support those values and efforts,” said Chatfield.
His posture was first reported on West Michigan’s Fox 17.
Southwest Michigan First announced on February 11 that its new CEO is Chatfield, a 32-year-old Republican from northern Michigan who stepped down due to term restrictions in late 2020.
Southwest Michigan First is “an organization of privately funded economic development consultants serving as a catalyst for economic growth in seven counties of Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren,” according to a press release.
Last week, the city of Kalamazoo decided to stop funding the organization through the recruitment, and the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners has considered a similar move.
Erin Knott, a Kalamazoo city commissioner and director of Equality Michigan, urged leaders of Southwest Michigan First, including Chatfield, to demand that GOP-controlled legislation comply with the state’s civil rights law on safeguards for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression “without” extends an outsourcing or exemption of any kind. “
As a legislator, Chatfield, who served from 2015-2020, rejected such a proposal with no religious exceptions. In 2019, when he was spokesperson, Chatfield said in a tapping of “Off the Record” on WKAR-TV that he had no plans to vote on gay rights legislation while in office.
“I don’t think we can pass this bill while protecting freedom of religion,” Chatfield said on the TV show. “You have seen these laws passed in other states which, in my opinion, reverse discrimination against people of religious belief.”
On Thursday, Knott said it was encouraging to learn that Chatfield intends to support an amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its new role.
“While Mr. Chatfield is no longer a legislator, as CEO he is a policy and opinion leader, and it is critical that he understands the central importance of attracting and retaining talent to support our region’s world-class companies and institutions and the role of inclusion these efforts, “said Knott. “This is essential to the work Mr. Chatfield has been hired to do and it is up to someone in his position to be clear about what he or she supports or does not support.”
Former Southwest Michigan First CEO Ron Kitchens earned a total of $ 720,814 in 2018, according to a federal tax return.
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