LANSING – State Representative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga) on Wednesday attended a luncheon in honor of former State Representative Daisy Elliot (D-Detroit) who played a major role in establishing Michigan's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
"It was a joy and an honor to meet former Representative Elliot, a woman who truly has inspired me and many other female lawmakers," Byrum said. "Representative Elliot co-sponsored an important piece of legislation here in Michigan. Thanks to her work, discrimination in employment, education and housing, among other areas, is not only intolerable, it is against state law. Her service to our state will never be forgotten."
The Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act specifically prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, public services, education and housing.
Elliot, 90, is one of the few living members of the Constitutional Convention of 1961-62. She served 20 years in the Michigan House, before losing in a primary to now U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick (D-Detroit).
Elliot and former State Rep. Mel Larsen (R-Oxford), who co-sponsored the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, visited the House and the Senate on Wednesday.