Conservative State Indiana May Pass LGBT Protection Bill

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — (12-09-18) — Conservatives who control the entire state of Indiana, may make history by passing its first LGBT Protection Bill. I know, and no, hell has not freezing over nor are you in the twilight zone.

Indiana governor Eric Holcomb (R), is saying for the first time that there is support for LGBT protection in the state’s legislation that would give judges more freedom to impose tougher sentences on convicted persons for crimes motivated by race, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

However there still is one glich and that is for the extending protections to the transgender community. However Governor Eric Holcom believes that this is by far an history push not only by politicians but also by businesses for the law that includes the entire LGBT/Queer community.

Businesses from all sectors are lobbying their support for hate crimes language to politicians to make sure the bill provides protection for gender identity.  In fact you will remember supporters of the LGBTQ community from the embarrassing incident with former Governor Mike Pence attempting to push through the anti-LGBT Religious Freedom Restoration Act – where businesses such as Indy Chamber, the Pacers, Visit Indy, Eli Lilly and other groups threatened to pull projects and events from the state.

That forced the conservative legislature to immediately reverse that bill and make changes to its language to save Billions for the state in revenue.

But this is not to say tha all conservatives are on board as one member of the opposition is the House Speaker, Brian Bosma, who went on record to say that gender identity cannot be a part of the protected classes if there is any hope for the crime law to pass.

Bosma further said that social conservatives at the Statehouse won’t negotiate or vote for the measure if gender identity is part of the final draft of the bill. This is by far an interesting story considering Indiana is controlled by Republicans in both the Senate and House.

Governor Holcomb responded to House Speaker Bosma by saying for the record…I believe the state’s hate crime language must include all LGBT community members, just as the executive branch’s employment policy requires. Indiana is one of only five states left in the USA that does not have a hate crimes law on its books.

The House and Senate will begin the next legislative session on Jan. 3, 2019.

House Speaker Bosma is under the impression that by passing such a law tha that it will invite undue attention to the state.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer