Today, the Indiana State Legislature gavels out for the 2016 session, Claire.
To say this year’s legislative session was a let down would be an understatement.
Lawmakers’ refusal to put forth serious effort to address LGBT non-discrimination—despite having promised to do so—flies in the face of the strong majority of Hoosiers and hundreds of local businesses who wholeheartedly support a simple and fair solution: Four words and a comma to add “sexual orientation, gender identity” to existing civil rights law.
To add insult to injury—lawmakers are actually gaveling out 4 days early.
Lawmakers may be done with work for the year, but we sure aren’t. And we aren’t going anywhere until we get concrete action from our state legislators to protect LGBT Hoosiers.
Despite stagnation at the Statehouse, we can be proud of what we achieved this year, Claire.
We built a groundswell of grassroots support of unprecedented proportions, with hundreds of Hoosiers rallying for Statehouse Action Day. We mobilized a vast faith coalition to host historic faith vigils led by clergy from across the state and attended by the hundreds. We executed a one-of-a-kind storytelling campaign to elevate the lived experience of transgender Hoosiers in efforts to increase understanding and education.
Most importantly: We held the fire to lawmakers. They passed RFRA last year and thought, with time, we’d forget the civil rights injustice committed at their hands.
But we proved we will NOT sit idly by while lawmakers gamble with the lives of LGBT Hoosiers.
In the long game that has defined every major civil rights battle in American history, the victors are the people who stick to their convictions and hold those in power accountable for their actions.
With active supporters like you on our side, I have no doubt that we will be victorious.
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