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Gov. Rick Snyder

(File Photo)

LANSING -- Gov. Rick Snyder continues to avoid taking a stance on expanding civil rights protections based on sexual orientation, but said he's happy to discuss it at some point.

When asked why he hasn't taken a stand on the issue, the Republican governor said he's focused on jobs. He said some matters are in front of the courts, so he's letting it go through the judicial process.

"It's something at some point I'm happy to have a discussion on; I'm waiting to see when legislators may also have that as an item of interest," he told reporters after an unrelated public appearance on Thursday.

Snyder has given similar answers in the past. MLive columnist Tim Skubick wrote about it this week: "You have to wonder what Gov. Rick Snyder really thinks, deep-down inside, about expanding the state civil rights act to include members of the LGBT community."

On Thursday, several reporters pushed Snyder to explain himself further:

House Speaker Jase Bolger is still having conversations with people on all sides of this issue, said spokesman Ari Adler.

"No one has yet come up with a good answer on how to balance personal liberty with religious freedom," Adler said in an email on Thursday. "The positive news is that he has had many conversations with people who agree we need to find a solution together and neither side should demonize the other."

Several Michigan municipalities have passed various anti-discrimination ordinances that include gay and transgender people. This week, Delta Township became the 29th local government to do so, according to One Capital Region, a campaign to pass non-discrimination ordinances in the Lansing area.

The measures have faced opposition from Midland-based American Family Association of Michigan, which argues the policies discriminate against people who don't support homosexuality.

Equality Michigan Managing Director Emily Dievendorf said she thinks progress will be made sooner rather than later, "thanks to legislators on both sides of the aisle."

"While marriage equality is currently before the courts, extending workplace discrimination protections to gay and transgender citizens is a responsibility that falls to the leadership in the legislative and the executive branches of Michigan's government," she said in an email. "The Governor's own Civil Rights Commission has established that anti-lgbt discrimination is happening in Michigan and is harming both Michigan families and Michigan's economic growth."

Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, introduced legislation in 2012 and in 2009 to prohibit employers, landlords and others in Michigan from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The bills never passed, and there doesn't appear to be any similar bills introduced this session.

Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter: @MelissaDAnders. Download the MLive app for iPhone and Android.