Several days ago, Michigan Progressive posted an article questioning Attorney General candidate Patrick Miles and his progressive credentials on LGBTQ issues. A review of his record revealed a pattern of behavior that raised serious questions about his positions on LGBTQ rights. For example, Miles publicly denied a gay rights activist a speaking opportunity at Aquinas College, a pastor for his church repeatedly peddled anti-LGBTQ rhetoric against “homosexual marriage,” and he has touted his ties to Kentwood Christian Church, an anti-LGBTQ religious institution.
Miles responded by attacking us as “an anonymous blog” and said he takes “being a strong, reliable ally very seriously.”
His first claim is demonstrably false, and his campaign knows it. This site is not anonymous. Our staff are listed on our About Us page. In fact, after we published an article detailing Miles’ troubling corporate ties, his campaign contacted one of our editors directly and accused us of being untruthful. We asked the Miles campaign to point out any inaccuracies in our reporting, but they failed to respond.
The fact is, Mr. Miles is being misleading about about our site in order to distract from his record on LGBTQ rights. If you don’t like the message, attack the messenger. This is very troubling and calls the character of his campaign into question.
His claim that he takes “being a strong, reliable ally” very seriously is also questionable at best. While we agree with Miles that one can disagree with the positions of one’s church, until very recently Miles has been in clear agreement with his church on LGBTQ issues. Miles and his family have served for many years on the board of Grand Rapids Christian Church which hired anti-LGBTQ Pastor Rick Lippert.
In his 2010 run for Congress, Miles stated that he viewed marriage as “only between one man and one woman.”
Miles again refused to stand up for an LGBTQ activist when he was Chairman of the Board at Aquinas College.
But perhaps what is most concerning about Miles is not what he has done, but what he has failed to do. He did not even make a statement in support of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on same-sex marriage in 2015. In fact, we have not been able to find any statements in support of LGBTQ rights prior to the start of his campaign for Attorney General late last year. These are not the actions of a “strong, reliable ally”.
Miles doesn’t seem to understand what it means to be a progressive. Being a progressive is about doing the right thing, even when it’s not popular. It means fighting for what’s right when it counts, not after the battle has already been won.