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Ypsilanti resident urges Council to add nondiscrimination protections for family and relationship structures
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Summary
At the November meeting, resident Melissa Pickett described being denied housing and employment because of her polyamorous family structure and asked the Human Relations Commission to consider recommending city antidiscrimination language that covers family and relationship structure.
Melissa Pickett, a resident of Ypsilanti Township who works in the City of Ypsilanti, told the Human Relations Commission she experienced repeated housing and employment discrimination because of her family and relationship structure and asked the commission to consider expanding local nondiscrimination protections.
“I was turned away multiple times for multiple different rental properties, because of the makeup of my family structure,” Pickett said, describing that she lives with two partners, co-parents two children and also lives with one partner’s spouse. She said her household ended up in Ypsilanti Township after repeated rejections from rental providers in the city.
Commissioners thanked Pickett for coming forward and discussed initial next steps, including researching model ordinance language used elsewhere. Pickett said she has been working with a national organization that has drafted model language and offered to forward sample text to commissioners via email. The deputy clerk was identified as the appropriate recipient to distribute any materials to the commission.
Commissioners noted the question overlaps with zoning and Council policy, and suggested the commission could coordinate with the Planning Commission and city council staff if it pursues formal recommendations. No formal motion to prepare an ordinance was made during the meeting; commissioners instead asked staff and members to collect model language for future discussion.
The commission did not take any formal legislative action at this meeting on nondiscrimination language; members agreed to review shared materials at a later meeting and consider bringing a recommended amendment to city council if the commission reaches consensus.
