Indiana Equality

Bipartisan co-operation

This post comes from Indiana Equality President, Kathy Sarris.

 

Bipartisan co-operation in Washington is a lovely sentiment, it almost sounds as if Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell should be holding hands and skipping up Constitution Ave.  As much as that can conjure up all kind of thoughts in one’s head it isn’t what bipartisanship is about.

Pelosi, McConnell, Boehner, and Reid could take lessons from State LGBT organizations in bipartisan cooperation. Indiana is a leading example of what that kind of cooperation can yield.

   

IE is occupied by liberals, moderates and conservatives pledged to the goal of winning full civil rights.

 

It isn’t always easy; egos and ideology are checked at the door. The strategies were not always to the benefit of our individual policy beliefs but we forged a coalition built on mutual respect and compromise.  Compromise takes courage and discipline.  How much easier it would be to denigrate those with whom we disagree. Compromise is necessary to achieve the promise that was made to us as citizens of this country.

 

When the Indiana Senate Republican Caucus voted to not hear the Marriage Amendment it was proof that bipartisan efforts lead to victories.  It wasn’t that the caucus was convinced that we are right it was that they were convinced that the amendment was bad government.

 

Richard Daley always said “if your right and you lose your dog will still love you”. IE will always develop bipartisan strategies with the intention of winning.  When we win, it will be with help from all the segments of a wonderfully diverse LGBT community.

Welcome!

Indiana Equality is pleased to announce the hiring of its first full-time employee: Denise “Dino” Sierp. Dino begins work this month as IE’s Field Organizer, focused on helping increase the number of inclusive human-rights ordinances around the state. Her work on this three-year project has been made possible by a generous grant from the Tides Foundation.

“Dino brings a lot of energy to our organization,” says IE president Kathy Sarris, “and a sense of a different—but complementary—direction we can move in to do outreach to LGBT and ally communities.”

Dino is well known and highly respected within a variety of communities inside and outside Indiana. As a concert and performance manager, she has supported lesbian and gay performers of local, national and international importance for decades, having set up an extensive networking system around the state for that purpose. As proprietor of Branching Out Productions since 1989, she has organized numerous events and programs to support authors who work in the areas of child abuse, mental health, women’s health and integrative medicine. As Director of Production for Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University, she trained, supervised and managed scores of volunteers and more than 100 employees over a three-year period. Combining her organizing skill and show biz savvy, Dino has also raised tens of thousands of dollars over the years for cancer awareness.

Seeing Through Bologna

I have to apologize a bit that it has taken me so long to get this blog posting up!

Indiana Equality was at the 2009 Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference 2009 at Indiana University-Bloomington and held our own presentation at the State Caucuses and taught a class entitled “Rocking the Ship of the State”.

At the caucuses and the class, my “hope levels” were rejuvenated a bit.

Every year Hoosiers have their time wasted by Eric Miller, Curt Smith, Micah Clark, Ryan McCann, Sue Swayze, you know, that ol gang. They bring up legislation that the state already enacted as state law has [insert Marriage Discrimination Amendment here] and waste OUR money.

Year after year this gang of pro-some-families gurus sets out to sidetrack our elected officials from the real problems at hand: taxing, the economy, education, etc. etc.  

But at MBLGTACC, the students saw through all that bologna. The student realized that the only hope of the Indiana Family Institute, for example, in keeping their personal coffers full was to keep bringing up an issue that is already state law, an issue that has been denied by our elected officials for years and years and years and years, and an issue that Hoosiers already see eye to eye on [insert marriage Discrimination Amendment here].

The students at MBLGTACC reinforced the notion that we young folks aren’t stupid; we see through your distractions.

Any who, the conference was great and I certainly encourage anyone who can attend, attend the next one!

Thanks!

Dear Friends,

Indiana Equality and I would like to thank you for participating in IE Action’s Lobby Day on Monday.  Your efforts on behalf of Hoosier LGBT and Allies put a face on the issues for our legislators in a very personal way. We had a huge showing of participants!

It was good that so many of us were able to actually meet with our representatives and senators today.  We were able to reach many of them on Bias Crimes, Civil Rights, and Hospital Visitation for Domestic Partners and the Marriage Amendment.  While we may not have been able to move all the votes we need, we know that the relationship you started today can bear fruit with continued efforts.

We hope that you felt that it was a successful day for your own activism as well.  To that end, we urge you to become more active and pass along this spirit to others in your circle.  Get them connected to Indiana Equality Action (http://indianaequalityaction.org/) so that they are prepared to respond when urgent action is needed.

Now, we need you to do just one more task.  Be sure to drop an email to your senator and representative.   Mention that you visited them on this date and the topic which you discussed.  Provide them with one or two more pieces of information on the topic.   Perhaps if you have some friends who might wish to speak with them, ask to set up a meeting soon.  And more of all, thank them for their time.  YOU are their version of our community. 

Thanks again for taking your day to participate in Indiana Equality Action’s Lobby Day 2009.

Yours,

Walter Botich, President

Indiana Equality Action

Marriage Discrimination Amendment given fifth "NO" in a row

Five years of bipartisan advocacy has resulted in the Indiana Senate Republican caucus voting not to consider Senate Joint Resolution 15 (SJR-15) – the Marriage Discrimination Amendment – during the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly.

“Indiana Equality Action and its coalition partners applaud the courage of the Senators that voted to reject the punitive nature of SJR 15“, remarked Walter Botich, President of Indiana Equality Action.

Credit for this success is due to the diligent and continuing efforts of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers, friends and allies.  Indiana Equality Action and its coalition partners – the Human Rights Campaign, Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, Indianapolis Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, the Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination, Stop the Amendment, Citizens for Civil Rights and regional coordinating committees – thank people throughout the state for contacting their legislators to tell them hate and intolerance have no place in our state constitution.

Observed Indiana Equality Action Vice-President Randy Studt, “Thanks goes out to the hundreds of individuals that let their elected officials know they had more important things on their mind such as our floundering economy, taxes, and education. Our hope is this is the start of a dialog that will continue to move Indiana forward.”

Proposals identical to SJR-15 – House Joint Resolutions 7 and 8 were also introduced in the Indiana House of Representatives.  House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer has previously announced that the proposals would not be considered during the current legislative session.

Although the threat of the Marriage Discrimination Amendment has apparently passed for the 2009 legislative session, much work is yet needed to secure basic rights for Indiana’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens. Indiana Equality Action is still working with legislators on both sides of the aisle to secure inclusive bias crimes protections for Hoosiers, amend Indiana’s Civil Rights law to protect against discrimination based on either sexual orientation or gender identity, and to insure hospital visitation rights for unmarried couples.

The mission of Indiana Equality Action is to secure basic rights for Indiana’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) citizens. Organized in 2003, Indiana Equality Action has two primary objectives – amending Indiana’s Civil Rights law to protect against discrimination based on either sexual orientation or gender identity, and ensuring that relationship protections for LGBT couples and families are not outlawed by an amendment to the State Constitution.  For more information regarding Indiana Equality Action, visit the organization’s website at www.indianaequalityaction.org or call 888.567.0750.

Discrimination hurts -- more so in hospitals

The ability to visit a loved one in the hospital when they are in their time of most need is a seemingly fundamental right, but for many social radicals like the Indiana Family Institute and the American Family Association so such right exists. 

What other choice could be more personal than choosing which one of your loved ones is able to see you in the hospital. There is no compelling state interest in preventing a loved one access to your hospital bedside. 

House bill 1629 and Senate bill 315 aim to prevent such government intrusion. HB 1629 and SB 315 allow an individual in a domestic partnership to have hospital visitation rights. I thought I would add an excerpt and a link to the story below as well. It's from the Miami Herald and explains the heart-wrenching story of not being able to see the one you love when they need love he most...

BY LEONARD PITTS JR.

LPITTS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Your wife is dying.

One moment everything was fine. You were in your stateroom on the cruise ship -- it was to be an anniversary cruise -- unpacking your things. The kids were in the adjoining stateroom playing with your wife. Suddenly, they banged on the door crying that mom was hurt.

So now you're in the hospital -- Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital -- waiting for word, and it's not coming. They tell you, Joe (we'll call you Joe), you can't be with her. You plead with them, to no avail. No, Joe, sorry, Joe, we can't tell you anything.

One hour turns to two, two to four, four to six. Your wife is dying, and no one she loves is there.

Finally, in the eighth hour, you reach her bedside. You are just in time to stand beside the priest as he administers last rites.

Your wife is dead. Her name was Lisa Marie Pond. She was 39.

It happened, Feb. 18-19, 2007, except that Pond's spouse was not a man named Joe, but a woman named Janice. And there's one other detail. 

Field Update

This post comes from John Clower, IE Field Ops

Words can shape what we see and don’t see, what we imagine and don’t imagine.

This was brought home to me again as I read the mutual recriminations flying back and forth between black writers and (white) gay writers over Proposition 8 in California and the degree to which the African-American vote led to its passage. More than one right-wing blogger in Indiana gleefully sprang into action to drive in the wedge that had been handed them on a silver platter.

I’ll admit I’m not a diligent reader of blogs. Given that fact, I was astonished not to encounter a single commentator who stated the obvious: the two groups—“African-American” and “LGBT”—are not mutually exclusive. Such is the power of words that we can act as if these non-existent things actually exist—an African-American community without LGBTs, an LGBT community without African-Americans.

Here in Indiana, we are most likely to succeed in passing bias-crime protections for all Hoosiers and inclusive civil rights for LGBT Hoosiers if we harness the determination of LGBT Hoosiers of all complexions, as well as key allies such as heterosexual African-Americans. Getting all parties up to speed on the double discrimination faced by LGBT black people and black same-sex couples might help get us thinking again in terms of “we” instead of “them” and “us.”

Several years ago, drawing on data from the 2000 census, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign detailed the economic disadvantages faced by black same-sex couples.

For starters, black same-sex couples are more likely to parent children than black opposite-sex couples and white same-sex couples. Black same-sex couples are raising children at almost twice the rate as their white counterparts: 61 percent to 31 percent for women, 46 percent to 24 percent for men.

Black same-sex couples earn a lower annual income that black opposite-sex couples and white same-sex couples. Annual median income figures are $49,000 for black male same-sex couples, $42,000 for black lesbian couples, $51,000 for black married opposite-sex couples and $69,000 for white same-sex couples.

Black same-sex couples are more likely to work in the public sector, relying on domestic partner health insurance, and to serve in the military, where they could lose income and benefits if they run afoul of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Although black women make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. military,  3 percent of those discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” have been black women.

Across the board—whether we’re talking about anti-LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, credit, military service, or partnership protections—black people tend to be harmed disproportionately. A shared understanding of this is one good place to start as we forge--and perhaps repair--relationships and coalitions across races in Indiana.

And oh, by the way, an NGLTF investigation debunked the claim that African-Americans had supported Proposition 8 significantly more than voters of other races.

For more details, see: http://www.thetaskforce.org/press/releases/pr_1_06_09 andhttp://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/blackcouples_census

Indiana Equality Coalition Partner Spolight

Indiana Equality Coalition Partner Spolight:

Central Indiana Labor Council

The state of Indiana has been an area of strong activity in labor union history.  Reflecting our labor heritage, Indianapolis was once the home of 10 international unions. The Central Labor Council was chartered by the AFL-CIO in 1958 representing labor unions in Marion County, Indiana.  Later, in 1981, the counties surrounding Marion County were added to the jurisdiction of the Council which currently represents approximately 40,000 union workers. 

While we have an exciting history, the CILC is very proud of the work of our current leadership.  President Lettie Oliver is the first woman, the first African-American and the first representative of a public sector union to hold that office.  Our Executive Board has representatives from large and small unions, public and private sector, industrial, building trades and white collar unions, active members and retirees, as well as great gender and racial mix.  We are a mirror image of the working people of Central Indiana and America. 

The Trinity

This post comes from Jon Keep, Indiana Equality State Chair

Well, the antics of the legislature have begun!  Here we are in one of the worse economic times in recent history and our elected officials are getting sidetracked with those unacceptable gay, lesbian, bisexual and (gasp!) transgendered Hoosiers.  Who is sidetracking our dedicated law makers?  The trinity of Eric, Micah and Curt!

They have made it their top issues to bring up the marriage amendment (again), defeat bias crimes legislation, and keep civil rights protections from GLBT Hoosiers.    No, they don’t seem too concerned about the families laid off from work around the state; budget shortfalls in local governments; education or anything else that directly affects people.  No it’s making the ‘gays’ the bad guys.  Why?  It raises money.

If you want to see the latest in a bad analogy, check out the Indiana Family Institute’s blogVeritas Rex (Truth is King….another bad analogy) on RelationShips written by Ryan McCann.   Imagine what good their organizations could do by really helping Hoosiers from what they are facing today instead of taking time to lobby the legislature and writing bad analogies against GLBT people? 

Well, just know that Indiana Equality is, again, working for you to keep all Hoosiers equal.  That is our goal…..unless the legislators have to debate the pros and cons of sugar cream pie.

Jon

Learn. Lobby. Influence.

Learn. Lobby. Influence.

 Presented by 

Indiana Equality Action

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Indiana Equality Action is offering our popular lobby training "Learn. Lobby. Influence"training this President's Day.

WHEN: Monday, February 16^th, 2009 from 9am – 12:30pm (Presidents’ Day)

WHERE: Barnes & Thornburg Building, Auditorium 2, 11 South Meridian Street, Indianapolis

COST: $10 (Includes breakfast, lunch and materials)