Organizers of Michigan gay rights initiative suspend efforts

Lansing, Mich. (AP) — Supporters of amending Michigan's constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender are suspending efforts to get the measure on the November ballot.

The Fair Michigan ballot committee was seeking to gather roughly 315,000 valid voter signatures by summer to put the initiative on the statewide ballot.

Dana Nessel, one of the lawyers who helped win a historic legal battle to strike down the state's gay marriage ban, has been organizing the effort. She says during a taping of WKAR-TV's "Off the Record" show that it's "not the end of Fair Michigan."

MLive.com reports Nessel cited finances as a reason for suspension.

Major gay rights advocacy groups such as Equality Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the 2016 measure because they worried voters would defeat it.

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The Gayly – January 30, 2016 @ 7:10 a.m.