According to MSNBC.com: WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill Thursday that could define President Barack Obama’s legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country’s history. The 60-39 vote on a cold Christmas Eve morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate.
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Regarding SJR-7
I just wanted to say that there are a lot of hard working people who were tireless in getting SJR-7 stopped in its tracks. I’m afraid to start naming them, because I’ll manage to leave someone out – but every single person who was involved in the grassroots effort worked hard – much harder than
Read on »SJR-7 Language rejected as flawed by ultra-conservative Bork
Bilerico contributor Don Sherffick testified before the recent House Committee meeting on SJR-7, noting that the language for the flawed second paragraph of the bill originally came from an early draft of the Federal version of the amendment – a draft that was later re-written considerably. That revelation caused some comment and concern amongst committee
Read on »Statewide religious coalition speaks out against SJR-7
From iconindiana.org: Indianapolis – The Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination (ICON) today spoke out against Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR-7) in a letter to the Indiana General Assembly. The letter, which is signed by 130 Indiana clergy, leaders of faith communities, and other religious professionals, opens with, “Our backgrounds and those of the people we serve
Read on »Colts raise $20,000 for Anti-Gay Group
This is being discussed in the comments on my post on Tony Dungy – but it bears pulling up to it’s own entry – at the Indiana Family Institute Dinner, the Colts sent merchandise to be donated off in an auction, which raised $20,000 for the organization to oppose gay rights and to support SJR-7.
Read on »House committee tables SJR-7 vote
According to Bil from Bilerico: The House Rules and Legislative Affairs committee listened to three hours of testimony regarding SJR-7, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. After several members of the committee commented that they’d like more time to review the testimony before voting on the matter, Chair Scott Pelath
Read on »Cummins plans to testify against proposed ban
From the Indianapolis Star: No private employers testified against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage when it was before the Senate, but that will change when discussion begins today in the House. Cummins Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tim Solso has sent a letter to House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, encouraging him
Read on »Tony Dungy against same-sex marriage
According to the Indianapolis Star: Colts coach Tony Dungy said he knows some people would prefer him to steer clear of the gay marriage debate, but he used a speech Tuesday night to clearly stake out his position. Dungy told more than 700 people at the Indiana Family Institute’s banquet that he agrees with that
Read on »Mohler Says Gay Gene Should Be Manipulated, If Possible
From Beliefnet, among many other sources: The president of a prominent Southern Baptist seminary says he would support medical treatment, if it were available, to change the sexual orientation of a fetus inside its mother’s womb from homosexual to heterosexual. The idea of a hormonal patch for pregnant women was discussed by the Rev. R.
Read on »Contacting Your Legislators about SJR-7
I’ve mentioned this several times, but it bears repeating. If you haven’t contacted your legislators about SJR-7 (or even if you already have!), you can do so in a number of ways. Two sites have easy contact forms you can use, that look up your legislators for you based on the information you provide. You
Read on »Rishawn Biddle and Questions on Hate Crimes
Over on the Expresso blog, Rishawn Biddle asks this question regarding the current hate crimes legislation in the house. 3.) Can the supporters of the hate crimes penalities proposed in House Bill 1459 muster up evidence that gays are being murdered or assaulted at any higher rate than the rest of the population? More importantly,
Read on »Anti-Marriage Equality Amendment Introduced to Indiana Legislature
As Bilerico is reporting – the massively flawed legislation to put an anti-marriage equality amendment (banning civil marriage for same-sex partners) on the ballot for voting had been re-introduced to the legislature. Here’s the proposed bill: DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL Definition of marriage. Provides that marriage in Indiana consists only of the union of one
Read on »Indiana’s Seatbelt Loophole law
I’ve commented on the current seatbelt law on both Doug Masson’s Blog, and on Taking Down Words, but since I keep doing that, I should probably talk about here on my own site, too. Both of those sites have been in favor of closing Indiana’s truck seat belt law, and both of them have been
Read on »Hate Crime Legislation: A Respectful Response to Common Assertions
I had this article on my site a few years ago while the State legislature was debating the hate crimes legislation. It was written by Chris Douglas. I’m re-posting it because he needed to find it again, and because it’s an informative and well-written piece. It’s quite long, though, so I’m putting the body of
Read on »More on The Murdered Indianapolis Trans Teen
From the Indy Star: An initial hearing in the case of the teen’s murder was held for an Indianapolis man who has been arrested for the murder of Gregory Johnson and his friend Brandie Coleman. According to the hearing, the gun belonging to Paul Anthony Moore, 20, was matched to the bullets that killed the
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