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Josh Linkner of Detroit Venture Partners speaks at TEDxDetroit on September 28, 2011.

(Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com)

LANSING, MI — A coalition of Michigan companies, business organizations and LGBT advocacy groups is ramping up its anti-discrimination push, hoping to break a legislative stalemate and spur lame-duck action.

The group is urging state lawmakers to approve legislation that would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity and expression” language to Michigan's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, providing protection for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents.

But House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, has made clear he's only interested in adding sexual orientation protections -- and only if the bill is paired with a Religious Freedom Restoration Act that he introduced.

With only nine scheduled session days left this year, the Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition has hired three major lobbying firms and deployed field organizers in key House districts, including Bolger’s, for its new "Freedom Michigan" campaign.

The group believes the votes are there if Bolger will put up the inclusive bill, and they’re working to educate lawmakers — mostly Republicans at this point — on the business implications and importance of attracting a talented workforce.

“We live in a fiercely competitive economy,” Josh Linkner, an entrepreneur and founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners, said in a conference call Wednesday. “And in this sort of fist-fighting competitive landscape, anything we can do to drive a competitive advantage to our state, we have to take.”

Eighteen states already have anti-discrimination protections for LGBT residents. Three other states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation only, but a narrower law of that type has not been enacted since 2002.

Phil Cooley of Slows Bar BQ, a Detroit-based restaurant that is expanding to Grand Rapids, said he moved back to Michigan when he was 24 years old because he felt he wouldn’t be judged for trying something new here, and he believes everyone should have that same opportunity.

Cooley described himself as a “left-leaning centrist” but said LGBT anti-discrimination protections shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

“This is about business,” he said. “This makes one hundred percent business sense, and that’s one thing I do appreciate about the Republican Party from time to time. Their fiscal sensibilities.”

Michigan law currently protects people from being fired and denied service or housing on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status or marital status.

Bolger, speaking with reporters last week, said he does not think anyone should be fired because they are gay but also believes religious liberty must be respected.

He argued that “gender identity and expression” language should not be added to Elliott-Larsen because transgender people have won some federal cases on the basis of sex discrimination.

“It is not necessary, therefore it should not be included,” Bolger said. “Gender identity is already protected by having ‘sex’ in Elliott-Larsen.”

Those decisions are non-binding and the theory hasn't been tested in Michigan courts, according to Shelli Weisberg of the ACLU, who said lawmakers could move to prohibit discrimination without waiting for legal opinions.

“It’s probably a good ten to 15 years away,” Weisberg said of the sex discrimination case law. “The Legislature could do that now.”

Absent lame-duck action, the coalition is already discussing plans for a petition drive and potential ballot proposal in 2016.

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.