Rishawn Biddle Gets Fired

I’ve been trying to avoid writing about local politics of late, just because the bile and animosity therein was way to much to deal with given my increased workload at my place of employment, and because others do a much better job of saying what I would anyway.

On occasion here, I’ve ranted about Indy Star editorialist Rishawn Biddle, who brought to the paper something less than what was actually necessary to write a good editorial column regularly.

The other day, Rishawn posted a diatribe on the Indy Star’s Expresso blog against Indianapolis City-County council head Monroe Gray, who is being investigated currently for god knows what. It’s hard to figure out in all of the racist bile being slung around. I’m sure someone will helpfully post some racist bile here to explain it.

Anyways, the diatribe was full of racial epithets towards Gray and other black members of local politics. StAllio! has a pretty entertaining reconstruction of the post, which was edited several times, although remnants of the unedited versions still exist. I guess Rishawn thought he got a pass on calling people Coons because he himself is black. Turns out, not so much. He got fired for it, and rightly so.

Schadenfreude, she is so beautiful, but deadly. I should not laugh.

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Indy Star vs. Houston Chronicle: Houston has better readers

I happened to be reading this article in the Houston Chronicle about a gay male flight attendant murdered by a homophobe, and discovered something interesting while scrolling through the reader comments on the article.

Houston Chronicle readers seem to be more articulate and logical (and better writers) than the typical reader of the Indianapolis Star. It was really surprising to read comments from conservative, religious people that are not only grammatically correct but scathing in their view about what the homophobe did and where he’ll end up in the afterlife. After reading the Indianapolis Star reader comments for so long, I had a totally different expectation.

Either the Chronicle heavily moderates their comment section and edits comments from readers, or they just have a better educated populace than Indianapolis does.

I’d have to hunt around to find a really good example, but this one will do for starters. If you’ve never read the readers comments at the Indy Star, hang out and do that one day. Either a disproportionate number of Indianapolis citizens can’t think coherently – let alone write well – or there are just a bunch of nutters who do nothing but comment on the Star all day.

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Indianapolis Progressive Candidates You Might Consider

Below are candidates that have been supportive of GLBT issues and strong on progressive issues in the past. Please consider voting for them tomorrow when you go to the polls for the primaries.

Marion County Superior Court Judge
Karen Celestino Horseman
“Every so often an elected official will go to extraordinary lengths to improve the lives of those around them. In 2002, (then City-County Councilor) Karen Celestino-Horseman did just that when she introduced Proposal 278, which would have provided domestic partner benefits to Indianapolis city employees. It was a well strategized attempt, the community rallied around it, but it did fail on party lines.” — Linda Perdue

The GLBT community needs a judge in this position that understands and supports GLBT issues, especially considering the difficult issues surrounding adoption.

U.S. Congress, District 7
Julia Carson
Obviously, you should consider Julia — read here for more info on her opponent.

State Legislature
David Orentlicher, HD 86
Susan Fuldauer, HD 88
Greg Porter, HD 96
William Crawford, HD 98
Vanessa Summers, HD 99

Indianapolis Public Schools
Kelly Bentley
In IPS District Three, Kelly Bentley, a friend of our community, is running for a third term on the Board. Kelly has been a strong advocate for safe schools for everyone, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. It was thanks to her efforts that IPS policies against discrimination now include protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for both teachers and students). She has supported efforts of students at Broad Ripple High School to form a gay-straight alliance.

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