Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire: Gay Rights
Detroit Free Press,
July 2, 2002
321 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit MI 48231
Fax: 313-222-6774
Email: letters@freepress.com
http://www.freep.com/news/politics/pm9931_20020702.htm
Please Answer YES, NO or NR (no response)
Do you support the Michigan law restricting state-sanctioned marriage to
heterosexual couples?
Blanchard: Yes
Bonior: Yes, but I believe in civil unions.
Granholm: Yes
Posthumus: Yes
Schwarz: Yes
In the absence of legal same sex marriage, should Michigan recognize
domestic partner relationships?
Blanchard: Yes
Bonior: Yes, I believe in civil unions.
Granholm: Yes, people who make a lifetime commitment to each other
should have access, if they choose, to the legal benefits of married couples.
Posthumus: No
Schwarz: Yes
Should Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen anti-discrimination law be expanded to
prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation?
Blanchard: Yes
Bonior: Yes
Granholm: Yes
Posthumus: I support the current law as it is written.
Schwarz: Yes
Should a crime motivated by animus toward gays and lesbians carry an
enhanced penalty (i.e. be treated as a "hate crime")?
Blanchard: Yes
Bonior: Yes. All hate crimes deserve enhanced penalties.
Granholm: Yes
Posthumus: No.I believe in aggressively going after all crime, and
making sure people get punished for their crime. As Senate Majority Leader I
led the passage of over 300 new anti-crime measures that put violent criminals
behind bars and kept them there. Hate crime legislation is nothing more than
an attempt to punish thought—not criminal actions. I do not support the
criminalizing of ideas, no matter how ugly and offensive they may be.
Schwarz: Yes
Would you seek to extend state employee benefits, principally health care
coverage (as some of Michigan’s major public universities do) to domestic
partners?
Blanchard: Yes
Bonior: Yes
Granholm: Yes
Posthumus: No
Schwarz: Yes
Do you believe Michigan law prohibits joint adoption by unmarried couples?
Blanchard: NR
Bonior: No
Granholm: No, there is no child who is better off in temporary or
unsuitable placement than in a stable home with parents who love him or her.
Posthumus: Yes, the Michigan adoption law does not permit joint
adoption by unmarried couples. It does allow for married couples or single
individuals to adopt a child.
Schwarz: At issue in courts (Washtenaw County) as I write. Allow the
courts, probably an appellate court to answer.
Should Michigan repeal the criminal prohibition on sodomy?
Blanchard: Yes
Bonior: Yes
Granholm: We should not have laws that invade the privacy of consenting
adults.
Posthumus: I support the current law.
Schwarz: No
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