Tag: Indiana

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Indiana: Two more city councils adopt resolutions opposing constitutional gay marriage ban

As the Indiana state legislature debates a proposed constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, the South Bend and Muncie councils both voted Monday night to adopt resolutions against the amendment.

The South Bend resolution was approved on a 6-2 vote, while the Muncie resolution was adopted in a 9-0 vote.

City councils in Indianapolis, Evansville and Bloomington and a bipartisan group of mayors from several cities have also spoken out against the proposed amendment.

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday delayed a vote on following more than three hours of testimony from supporters and opponents. If legislators approve the amendment during this year’s session, it will go before voters on the November election ballot.

(via EdgeOnTheNet)

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Indiana: Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage introduced in state House

Indiana took it’s first step to constitutionally banning marriage equality in the state today:

JCOnline reports:

A resolution that would amend Indiana’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage was filed in the Indiana House of Representatives as expected today, setting into motion a bitter fight between conservatives who want to protect traditional matrimony and those who want to protect the rights of same-sex couples.

However, a companion measure (House Bill 1153) clarifies that the intent of the proposal is not to deny employer health benefits to same-sex couples or to circumvent local ordinances that forbid discrimination.

That clarifying language would appear to address some of the concerns raised by employers and others that the amendment would make employee recruitment difficult and make Indiana appear unwelcoming. The clarifying bill, however, seems to still ban civil unions for same-sex couples — a provision that some see as a step too far.

(via Instinct)

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Indiana: Sixty-four percent of voters do not support constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

By a margin of 2-1, folks in Indiana are not down with writing anti-gay discrimination into their state constitution.

From the Journal Gazette:

By 64 percent to 36 percent, voters say amending the Indiana Constitution is not the right way to deal with same sex marriage. A slight plurality – 46 percent to 43 percent – oppose the amendment.

For comparison, an April 2013 statewide survey by the same polling company showed voters were similarly divided, but with 46 percent in support.

“The message from these results is clear: Hoosiers overwhelmingly support some legal recognition for same-sex couples, and they oppose amending the Indiana Constitution to address the issue of same-sex marriage and rights,” said Freedom Indiana campaign manager Megan Robertson.

The proposed ban must be approved for a second time in the current legislative session before going before the voters in 2014.

The statewide survey of 800 registered voters in Indiana was conducted by Bellwether Research for Freedom Indiana.  Bellwether is run by Republican pollster Christine Matthews.

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Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s staff scrubbed positive Facebook comments about same-sex marriage

Indiana Governor Mike Pence issued an apology on his official Facebook page today after accusations that he and/or his staffers had scrubbed  pro-equality comments from his FB page following the Supreme Court decision this week.

From Pence’s Facebook page today:

“I believe that civility and respect for the opinion of others is essential to the democratic process. I also believe in the Freedom of Speech. Over the past 24 hours, I became aware of concerns that comments responding to my statement of support for traditional marriage were being deleted from this Facebook page because they disagreed with my stated position.

Our longstanding policy, on this and other social media sites, has been to delete inflammatory comments that include name-calling, vulgarity or comments personally insulting to others. It was my understanding that the comments which were deleted all met this standard.

On careful review, it appear that this was not always the case and some comments were being deleted simply because they expressed disagreement with my position. I regret that this occurred and sincerely apologize to all those who were affected.

I have instructed our staff to review our policy and develop a standard of conduct similar to that of other elected officials and news organizations in the days ahead. We will post that policy prominently on this site. Hoosiers expect our public debate to be open and respectful and we will ever seek to live up to that standard. In agreement or disagreement, I respect the opinions and the freedoms of all the people of Indiana.”

The censorship is still being documented by an online site called Pencership.

(via Towleroad)

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Indiana: Sen. Joe Donnelly supports marriage equality

Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) has come out for marriage equality:

“In recent years, our country has been involved in an important discussion on the issue of marriage equality. While serving in the House of Representatives, I had the opportunity to act on a core belief of mine: we are a stronger country when we draw on the strengths of all Americans. I voted to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and was an original supporter of the bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone in the workplace because of their sexual orientation. It is also for that reason that I oppose amending either Indiana’s or our nation’s constitution to enshrine in those documents an ‘us’ and a ‘them,’ instead of a ‘we.’ With the recent Supreme Court arguments and accompanying public discussion of same-sex marriage, I have been thinking about my past positions and votes. In doing so, I have concluded that the right thing to do is to support marriage equality for all.”

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Indiana: Anti-gay teacher was “expressing her First Amendment rights”

Superintendent Mark A. Baker released a statement Tuesday distancing the Northeast School Corporation from Diana Medley’s anti-gay statements but defending her free speech:

“I would like to clearly state the Northeast School Corporation has never denied any student the right to attend prom or any other Northeast School Corporation sponsored event due to their race, gender, or sexual orientation. Furthermore, the Northeast School Corporation has never denied any student access to any events sponsored by Northeast School Corporation. This includes sports, plays, musicals and any other extra-curricular activities.

In regards to the story that WTWO aired on February 10, 2013, the Northeast School Corporation employee that was interviewed was expressing her First Amendment rights. The views expressed are not the views of the Northeast School Corporation and/or the Board of Education.

These comments were expressed during a Sunday community meeting at a local church and at no time was she representing the Northeast School Corporation. The teacher was participating in a meeting with her local church congregation.

I’d like to point out that, yes, Ms. Medley does have a right to express her anti-gay speech. Just as I have a right to point out that it’s hurtful to her students and bigoted.

Free speech.

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An open letter to Diana Medley of Indiana

Excellent open letter from J. Patrick Redmond to Diana Medley of Indiana.

J. Patrick’s letter was prompted by Ms. Medley’s statement of support for students in Indiana who want to hold a “gays excluded” prom this year at Sullivan High School.  When asked, Medley responded to a reporter that she believes gay people have no purpose in life, and agrees that anti-gay parents and students should create a separate, “traditional” prom that would ban gay students from attending.

J. Patrick is also a teacher born in Indiana.  Here’s an excerpt from J. Patrick’s open letter:

“What you have done, Ms. Medley, by announcing to our community that “gays have no purpose” is scar and destroy the self-worth of countless Wabash Valley LGBT teens who, by whatever means, heard your hateful and vitriolic words. You are not representative of Christianity. You are not representative of Christ’s message. You are certainly not representative of love. And you are not representative of those Hoosiers that live near you –the ones that love thy gay neighbor and love me.”

Thank you J. Patrick for writing what so many of us in the LGBT community feel. We do have purpose. We do count.

Ms. Medley, thank you for revealing YOUR purpose of exclusion and judgement. Life is clearer when we can see things in the light of day. And now we can see you for who you are. My best thoughts go out to your students.

Read the rest of J. Patrick’s letter here.

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Indiana: Public school teacher supports holding separate prom to exclude gay students

Indiana public school teacher Diane Medley, speaking in support of a plan to stage a separate senior prom that will ban gay students from attending:

“I believe that it was life circumstances and they chose to be that way; God created everyone equal. Homosexual students come to me with their problems, and I don’t agree with them, but I care about them. It’s the same thing with my special needs kids, I think God puts everyone in our lives for a reason. So the same goes for gays? Do you think they have a purpose in life?’ No I honestly don’t. Sorry, but I don’t. I don’t understand it. A gay person isn’t going to come up and make some change unless it’s to realize that it was a choice and they’re choosing God.”

Dan Savage reacts:

Let’s pause here to grieve for all the special education students in Sullivan, Indiana. Students with learning disabilities have it hard enough without getting stuck with a mentally challenged special ed teacher. You know else has it hard enough? I imagine queer kids growing up in Sullivan, Indiana, population 4,249, have it hard enough without having to watch shit like this on the evening news.

The anti-gay haters at Sullivan High have a Facebook page: 2013 Sullivan Traditional Prom. One of the organizers of this hate group would like us to know that “this is not a hate group.” 2013 Sullivan Traditional Prom is just a group that has been organized with the sole purpose of creating an alternate prom that excludes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students and to achieve that end the group’s members are calling LGBT kids “offensive,” sick, and sinful.

What’s hateful about that? Besides, you know, everything?

I completely agree with Dan. Their last high school celebration these folks have and they want to plan as an exclusionary event. That how you want to head out into the world? Really?

(via JMG)

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Indiana newspaper polls on whether banning marriage equality would be good for business

The Evansville Courier & Press has a poll out asking if banning marriage equality would “help” or “harm” Indiana’s business climate.

Clearly, if companies were to be able to offer benefits to same-sex couples AND if the state itself offered marriage rights, it would make Indiana able to compete for the best and brightest with no discrimination.

Here’s a link to the poll.

Go kids! You know what to do…