Michigan Dems plan to slay old ‘zombie laws’

Democratic lawmakers are planning to repeal outdated—and largely unenforced—state laws that criminalize adultery and same-sex sexual conduct in the state of Michigan.

MICHIGAN—Lawmakers are hashing out plans this month to clean up a few outdated and currently unenforced portions of state law—including old statutes from the early 1900s that make it illegal for Michiganders to cheat on their spouse or to have same-sex sexual contact.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) calls them “zombie laws.” And in a recent interview with The ‘Gander, she said it’s critical to update state laws to remove antiquated, bigoted, and unconstitutional language that could be used to harm Michiganders.

“These are things we could take off the books pre-emptively, so we don’t end up in a situation where our rights are going backwards based on something at the federal level,” Brinks said. 

The state House Criminal Justice Committee reportedly fielded testimony on the proposed changes on Tuesday—including on plans to remove a provision in state law that criminalizes same-sex sexual conduct as an “abdominable and detestable” crime against nature. 

The US Supreme Court has already ruled that those laws are unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. But Brinks said that a more conservative, right-wing state government—in theory—could essentially revive that old state law to target the LGBTQ community in the future. 

Recent bigoted remarks from Republican lawmakers who are set to take majority control of the state House of Representatives next year has also exacerbated the need for the safeguards, state Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) testified in a House committee meeting this week. 

“The assault on these rights is clear, motivated in part by an intense religious bigotry against gay people,” Arbit said. “I think the idea of the state being empowered by statute to arrest private adult citizens for engaging in consensual sex acts of their choosing is extreme.”

To accomplish these changes, House Bills 4431, 4432 and 4433 would reword the “sodomy” section of state law to instead specifically address criminal penalties associated with bestiality—cutting the word “sodomy” from the section of law, reports Michigan Advance.

Both bills have since advanced through committee and are now headed to a full House vote.

“When you see the appointments or the nominations for cabinet positions and some of the Christian nationalist perspectives on things, or hear some of the things that [Vice President-elect] JD Vance has said about families, we cannot afford not to be thoughtful about ensuring that people have the freedoms they have now,” Brinks told The ‘Gander last week.

Senate Bills 1083, 1084 and 1085 were also approved at the committee level this week and are now set to be approved by the full Senate. They would repeal state statutes that criminalize adultery. Civil rights advocates testified that the old state law was a “relic of a bygone era.”

And more broadly, it’s not a place where the government needs to stick its nose, Brinks said. 

“The government just doesn’t need to be involved in these things,” she said. 

READ MORE: Michigan Dems race to pass bills before Republicans take over House

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