Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Rep. McMillin's Stance on Gay 'Lifestyle' is Wrong

Submitted by Timothy Maurer.

In 2007 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an audience of American college students "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country".  Last week, Rochester Hills Representative Tom McMillin was interviewed on NPR and stated "There’s ministries here in Detroit that have folks that were in the homosexual lifestyle and have came out of it."   

McMillin's quote came nearly a week after  Exodus International, an organization whose mission was to "help" gay Christians become straight,  shut down. 

"Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we've ceased to be a living, breathing organism," said Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus. "For quite some time, we've been imprisoned in a worldview that's neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical."

During the summer of 2012 Affirmations, an LGBT community center in Ferndale MI posted an equality Hall of Shame list prominently on the outside of its building on 9 mile road.  Continuous foot traffic past the building could review various quotes from and ill conceived legislation sponsored by McMillin regarding the LGBT community. Unfortunately, for the citizens and business owners in the Rochester/Rochester Hills area, Rep. McMillin's name on the building was immediately followed by Rep-Rochester/Rochester Hills.  

Corporations like GM, Ford, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Verizon have all earned 100% scores on the HRC Corporate Equality index partly by making a commitment to promote equality publicly. They do so not only to attract the most talented employees but because it strengthens both their balance sheet and income statements.

The businesses in downtown Rochester, Rochester Hills (The Village, etc.) rely on their local leaders to create a business friendly environment. Is Our State Representative  communicating to the LGBT community that the business  owners in Rochester/RochesterHills  want their business?

Timothy Maurer


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