Written by Alyssa Varas

What’s happening: Michigan lawmakers in the House approved H.B. 4474, a bill that expands protections for individuals’ "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression” against hate crimes. Under the statute, making someone “feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened” would be punishable with up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. Critics correctly worry that misusing pronouns would fall under that definition of a “hate crime,” though pronouns aren’t explicitly mentioned.