Recent editorials published in Indiana newspapers

The Indianapolis Star. Feb. 3, 2016

A legislative letdown over LGBT rights.

The General Assembly and Gov. Mike Pence's refusal to extend the state's civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity continues to tarnish Indiana's image and jeopardize long-term economic prosperity.

Last spring, after a firestorm from passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act blew up in their faces, lawmakers pledged to address legal protections for LGBT citizens in the next legislative session.

But after meeting privately Tuesday, Senate Republican leaders decided to kill legislation that would have protected gay Hoosiers from discrimination. In doing so, they not only failed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers but also their families, friends, coworkers and anyone else in our state who values equality.

Polls show that Indiana's elected leaders don't accurately represent the will of 70 percent of Hoosiers, who support adding sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under the civil rights law. Lawmakers' stubborn refusal to listen to the will of the people could come at a high cost in an election year.

Indiana must be seen as a state that spurns intolerance and bigotry. Yet the failure of legislation this session means LGBT citizens can still be legally discriminated against in most of the state. Sexual orientation or gender identity can be the basis for a landlord to block housing, an employer to deny a job, or a business owner to refuse service. All of that is permissible under current law.

Legislators on Tuesday did not even have the decency to conduct a full debate or to publicly vote on the measure. Their actions reflect a disrespect for those they have been elected to represent.

Senate leader David Long, R-Fort Wayne, made another promise Tuesday that legislators will revisit the issue next year. Let's hope they do.

But their lack of leadership and courage this year in rejecting inequality is a bitter disappointment.

Gov. Mike Pence and the General Assembly have failed Indiana and its residents, not just those from the LGBT community, but all of us.

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The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Feb. 5, 2016

Kansas gives gun-dealer protection a shot.

Kansas lawmakers - like their Indiana counterparts - have an anti-discrimination law on the legislative agenda this year. But it's not discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity: Kansas is on course to prevent discrimination against gun dealers.

The Kansas Firearms Industry Nondiscrimination Act would make it illegal to refuse service to a person or trade association "solely because a person is engaged in the lawful commerce of firearms or ammunition products."

If you weren't aware that gun dealers are the subject of discriminatory practices, you likely aren't familiar with Operation Choke Point, a federal Justice Department initiative aimed at preventing fraudulent businesses from using the banking system. Unscrupulous pay-day lenders, not gun dealers, seemed to be the real target of the Justice Department operation, but the National Rifle Association criticized the crackdown as a means of attacking Second Amendment rights. Gun-rights supporters have responded with measures to circumvent federal oversight.

In spite of the bill's name, the chairman of the committee hearing it refused to allow an amendment adding protections against other forms of discrimination. Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer said he didn't want a "tree'd up bill."

"What we're looking at is a gun bill," he said at a hearing last week.

Indiana lawmakers didn't seek to protect gun dealers from discrimination in this session, but Fort Wayne Republicans Christopher Judy and Bob Morris sponsored a bill that would have prohibited state and local officials from enforcing any federal firearms law enacted since Jan. 1. It died in committee.

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The Kokomo Tribune. Feb. 4, 2016

Time now to act, city.

Nine months after Kokomo city council president Bob Hayes, vice president Mike Kennedy and then-council-candidate Steve Whikehart said they supported expanding protections against sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination within the city, Whikehart revealed last month the council's Public Works and Welfare Committee is composing legislation to do just that.

Such an ordinance would put Kokomo in the company of 12 other Indiana cities - and it can't come fast enough.

Tuesday, Indiana Republicans ditched efforts to add civil rights protections for lesbian, gay and bisexual Hoosiers in this legislative session. Senate President Pro Tem David Long said last week his colleagues would vote on expanding the state's civil rights law, which he said was "of importance to the entire state, regardless of which way it goes."

It apparently is as important to Senate Republicans as it is to Gov. Mike Pence, who signed Indiana's so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which sparked economic boycotts, scuttled previously announced business expansions and led tourists to cancel Indiana travel plans. A "fixed" RFRA will remain in place for at least another year.

RFRA was passed by a legislative supermajority of Republicans in March. Its purpose, they said, was to prohibit laws that "substantially burden" a person, religious institution, business or association from following their religious beliefs.

Instead, it set off a firestorm of condemnation from civil rights advocates, business leaders and others who saw it as a way to deny services to the LGBT community.

Kokomo Councilman Tom Miklik, R-6th District, told us last week he believes a civil rights expansion for the city's LGBT isn't needed. "I have not seen (discrimination) raised to a level sufficient that it impairs or affects the public good in Kokomo, Indiana."

Kokomo Pride president Darrell Blasius said last week now is the time for the city to act. Waiting for the state to protect LGBT Hoosiers from discrimination could produce negative results. "Why do we have to wait until it gets to that point?" he asked.

Indeed. Councilmembers must codify civil rights protections for Kokomo's LGBT. The council must do the right thing and pressure state lawmakers to do the same.

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The Bloomington Herald-Times. Feb. 3, 2016

Black History Month activities create shared sense of community.

Anyone who wonders why Bloomington goes all out for Black History Month need only recall articles the H-T published last year about Carrie Parker.

Family of first black woman to enroll at IU pays visit to campus

Historic homecoming for family of first black woman to attend IU

Parker was the first African-American woman to enroll at Indiana University, and although there had been a newspaper article about it at the time in 1897, the fact had been buried in the dust of history until a university archivist came across the article while researching something else.

After more investigation, her relatives were contacted and from them came the story of a remarkable woman, who, despite obstacles placed in her way due to her race and sex, completed high school, attended IU for a year and instilled a love of learning in her children and grandchildren. The university welcomed five generations of her family to campus last fall for Homecoming, including her 99-year-old son, Leon Parker Taylor, who came to see for themselves the place that had lived in the stories she had told them.

That is what Black History Month is about - to recognize accomplishments, elevate understanding and create a shared sense of community. The theme for this year's city celebration is "Reclaiming the next 100 years." That puts a forward spin on history as if to emphasize that the past informs but does not define the future. We concur.

A long but partial list of scheduled activities was published in Monday's newspaper and can be found online at www.HeraldTimesOnline.com or on the city of Bloomington website, bloomington.in.gov.

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