Chrysler, Others Join Effort to Bar Anti-LGBT Discrimination

Chrysler is joining a business-backed effort to push lawmakers to update Michigan's anti-discrimination law to prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The automaker is among new members of the Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition being announced Thursday at a conference of business and political leaders on Mackinac Island. The Detroit Regional Chamber, Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Kellogg Co., Pfizer are among those signing on to the initiative launched earlier this month.

The Detroit Regional Chamber says the business community is sending a "very clear message" about the need to update the 1976 Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

Efforts to change the law to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents have failed in the Legislature. Republicans say the religious beliefs of employers must be considered, too.