Indianapolis

Indiana Bill Amendment Would Make Illegal Local LGBT Non-Discrimination Policies

TODAY the Indiana House of Representatives will debate an amendment to House Bill 1010 that would prohibit cities and counties from providing equal rights protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity — like the Human Rights Ordinance we worked so hard on here in Indianapolis.

Please Contact your State Representative immediately (TODAY!) and tell them you oppose this amendment. Municipalities must retain the right to pass the laws that are appropriate and needed for their community and their citizens. Seek help from sex discrimination lawyers to fight for your rights. Basic human rights should be ensured for all Hoosiers.

In reaction to the recent update of Indianapolis’ Human Rights Ordinance and other local non-discrimination laws throughout Indiana – the Religious Right, led by Advance America’s Eric Miller, tapped Representative Jeff Thompson (R) to author an amendment to HB 1010 (eminent domain). The proposal, Amendment #12, specifies that local government may not extend protections for employment or housing that is “greater than those protections or opportunities offered by the Constitution of the State of Indiana, the Constitution of the United States, or federal law, except as expressly granted by statute.”

This proposal would make illegal human rights protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including those that have been enacted in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Michigan City, West Lafayette, and Tippecanoe County.

On Tuesday afternoon Democratic House members argued that the amendment was neither acceptable nor relevant to the bill. Nevertheless, the amendment was ruled germane and debate began. After intense questioning of Rep. Thompson by a number of Representatives (both Democratic and Republican), Speaker Brian Bosma adjourned House for the day without taking a vote on Amendment #12. As there was no vote, the House will continue discussion on the proposal when they re-convene at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 25th.

What You Can Do

1.) Contact your State Representative immediately and tell them loud and clear that this proposal is simply not acceptable! Municipalities must retain the right to pass the laws for that are appropriate and needed for their community and their citizens.

2.) Join Indiana Equality at the Indiana State House on Wednesday evening, January 25, 2006 and deliver a message in-person to your Representative to reject Amendment # 12. Meet at 5:00 pm at the State House Rotunda.

Don’t Forget!! – Our Families Count!

Join Indiana Equality for the “Our Families Count” rally. February 9, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm at the Statehouse. Don’t miss this historic event.

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IndyStar’s “In Touch” Blog

Read this blog entry from Jocelyn-Tandy Torkwase Adande:

An individual’s sexual preference should be a private matter. Recently, the Democratic caucus of the City-County Council attached an ordinance relating to sexual orientation to a human rights bill that also allows 15 percent of all business contracts with the city of Indianapolis to be awarded to minority-owned businesses.
To gain acceptance, a faction within the party, Stonewall Democrats, agreed to support this ordinance. The majority of African-American council members voted in favor of it and against the opinion of the religious community and its constituents. These council members wrongly allowed homosexuals and their supporters to identify their struggle with the plight of African Americans during the civil rights era.
Federal and state laws address acts of discrimination in employment and housing. Sexual harassment in the workplace is a type of employment discrimination. Such acts are prohibited by the 1964 Civil Rights Act and commonly by state statutes.
Passage of the ordinance was a mistake. To compare the plight of homosexuals to that of African Americans is an insult to my race.

I take issue with the very first line — my sexual orientation isn’t a matter for the bedroom, any more than any heterosexual couple’s is. When take your spouse to the company Christmas party and introduce them to people, you say “this is my wife, Christine” or “this is my husband, John.” You’re pointing out your sexual orientation and making it a part of your relationships with your co-workers and friends.
I do the same with mine. My girlfriend, someday wife, isn’t only that in my bedroom but in every aspect of my life. Our relationship may include sex, but it’s not solely about that — it’s also about love, loyalty, companionship, support, friendship, family, compassion, commitment and faith. Our relationship not a “sexual act.” It’s a beautiful, gracious gift from the universe, and I celebrate it every day.

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The RCA Dome blows

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I was reading this entry from the Indy Star blog’s “In Touch” section where people are arguing over increasing taxes and building a new Colts stadium. I had reservations about a new stadium, too, until we went to a Colts game earlier in the season. I discovered at the game that the RCA Dome blows chunks. Compared to the experience of seeing sports at Conseco Fieldhouse, seeing a game at the RCA Dome just isn’t fun. The halls are too narrow and dark, the bathrooms are tiny, the stadium seats are too small. You can’t see the scoreboard; it’s hard to see the game. It’s a pain to park. A pain to get in. A pain to find your seat. This Dome sucks. We need a new stadium. If it will bring revenue to the city, all the better.

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Local FBI spying on vegan groups

In another article about the domestic spying on left-wing organizations, this time from the New York Times, the article mentions in passing:

One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis planned to conduct surveillance as part of a “Vegan Community Project.”

Wow. If they’re spying on vegetarians in Indy, what do you think they’re doing about all those crazy homos? I wonder how to file for the Freedom of Information Act.
UPDATE: Okay, the ACLU press release is a bit clearer on what this is about. Our local FBI was investigating PETA, and one of the group’s events was passing out vegetarian starter kits to students and faculty on the “University of Indiana” campus. (They mean Indiana University.)
Well, I guess that actually isn’t any clearer to me what the FBI was doing.
A link to the redacted PDF document that the ACLU obtained through the FOIA.

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People outside of Indianapolis coming here to tell us how to live

One of the things that needs to be pointed out about Proposition 622 is that many of the people opposing it don’t live in Indianapolis and wouldn’t be affected by it.
For example, in today’s Indy Star, there are several letters from people opposing this ordinance. One of them is from Eric Miller, the director of Advance America. It’s signed Indianapolis, but Eric doesn’t live here in Indy. Neither does the guy who wrote the letter signed from Avon, Indiana.
And neither did half the people who got up to speak at the first City-County Council Committee meeting to discuss Prop. 622. Many of them were bussed in from around the state by the aforementioned Miller. The city-county council caught on to this eventually, and at the second hearing, they made people state their address or township before speaking to highlight that the testimony needed to be coming from residents. About half the opposition who planned to speak stepped down, because they were busted.
The city-county council members made it clear that they were only considering letters and phone calls from their own constituents, so the American Family Association, a group that is based outside Indianapolis, is pouring money into the Indiana Family Institute (also based outside Indy) to fund robot phone calls to blanket the houses of people in Indianapolis, asking them to do the dirty work of calling the council for them.
Don’t let people outside Indianapolis tell you how to live your life or conduct your business. Email your councilors (you can contact them through this form from Indiana Equality — a group that lives and works right here!!)

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I’m blogging because Fox 59 News is filming me right now

The News came to talk to us about Proposition 622, and I’m doing an action shot right now where they’re filming me at the computer, so I have do something. So I’m writing this blog entry. Say hi to the news!!
I’ll be on Fox 59 news tomorrow night at 10 p.m., so don’t forget to record it. Spike was a hit with Kara, the reporter, and Scott, the cameraguy, so he’ll probably show up on TV, too.

Continue ReadingI’m blogging because Fox 59 News is filming me right now