Fighting For Our Rights

In Indiana there is a bill moving forward through the legislature to provide legal protect for sexual orientation but not gender identity.

Transgender community pleads with lawmakers for civil rights protections
Fox 59
By Brian Bondus
February 1, 2016,

NDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Feb. 1, 2016)-- Indiana senators are considering a bill that extends civil rights protections to lesbian, gay and bisexual Hoosiers, but excludes members of the transgender community.

In response, members of the transgender community greeted lawmakers Monday at the Indiana Statehouse to let them see a different side of the group.

"It’s important to create some visibility for transgender people," said Korvin Bothwell. " A lot of Hoosiers and lawmakers say they haven’t met any transgender people and we wanted to give them the opportunity today."

Instead of extending civil protections to the transgender community, SB 344 calls for a study to be done this summer to examine the topic of discrimination based on gender identity.

And the inclusion of gender identity has strong religious support,

Also Monday, more than 240 clergy members in Indiana came out in support of LGBT rights. Rev. Lewis Galloway, Senior Pastor at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, is one group's members.

“To me there is a simple fix," Galloway said. "Extend civil rights legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity period. Keep it simple. The bills keep trying to carve out all these other exemptions and exceptions and I think that will do nothing, but continue to cloud the issues and create controversy in the long run.”

Amen.

The HRC said this about SB 344

Tonight, HRC responded to a vote in the Indiana Senate Rules & Legislative Procedure Committee to advance deeply flawed legislation that would unacceptably exclude any and all protections for transgender Hoosiers, would undermine existing protections for race and religion, and would remove the authority of municipalities to pass any new, fully inclusive LGBT non-discrimination protections at the local level. In addition, the proposal now includes a dangerous amendment that is similar to the discriminatory Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) law that passed last year, and it eliminates the so-called “fix” the Legislature eventually passed.

The legislation is a thinly-veiled attempt to allow discrimination to go forward but mitigate the economic and reputational damage still looming from Gov. Mike Pence’s discriminatory RFRA fight last year. Earlier this week, a new report estimated the state of Indiana lost $60 million as the result of last year’s effort to discriminate against LGBT people; nevertheless today, state lawmakers passed this new discriminatory legislation -- Senate Bill 344 -- out of committee by a vote of 7 to 5.
[…]
Several amendments were added to the legislation during today’s hearing and make S.B. 344 even more alarming. In addition to enshrining a RFRA-like standard minus last year’s RFRA “fix,” another amendment added would allow adoption agencies to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, even if they receive state funding.

An additional non-discrimination bill – Senate Bill 100 – was also on the agenda in committee tonight. It also falls far short of the full protections LGBT Hoosiers need and deserve. While seeking to update Indiana’s civil rights law, it would override existing municipal civil rights protections, write broad religious exemptions into law, and undermine existing protections for other protected characteristics such as race and religion, among other serious problems.

Meanwhile another bill is making its way through the legislature that would make this bill worthless.

Indiana Days Away from Possible 'Super RFRA'
Between The Lines: Pride Source
By BTL Saff
Originally printed 1/28/2016

Senate Bill 100
Senate Bill 100 would prohibit cities and towns from enforcing, existing or adding meaningful local civil rights protections to achieve fair treatment of their residents and as an economic development tool.

Senate Bill 100 provides limited protections for discrimination based on gender identity, and creates very broad religious and services exemptions that would authorize discrimination against gay and transgender people and either erode or eliminate many longstanding protections under Indiana civil rights law for discrimination based on other currently protected characteristics, including race and sex.

For example, this bill could allow a homeless shelter that receives government funding to turn away a single mother or permit a religiously affiliated hospital to deny someone the ability to make medical decisions for a same-sex spouse.

The bill also includes steep financial penalties that make it harder for anyone to file a discrimination claim.

And once again I like to point out that all these bills have been introduced by Republicans.