Pence sends letter to transgender event

Gov. Mike Pence sent a welcoming letter this week to an Indianapolis church that’s preparing to remember transgender people who have died in violence.

In the letter to Christ Church Cathedral, the Republican governor wrote the “taking of any human life through violence or in the name of prejudice is a grievous tragedy.”

Pence goes on to write, “As you gather at Christ Church Cathedral in prayer for the families and friends of those who were lost, let us always strive to live out Christ’s admonition to love others as we would want to be loved.”

An interfaith coalition of members and allies of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is arranging the Transgender Day of Remembrance event on Thursday. The Sanctuary of Christ Church Cathedral sent details of the event out to elected officials across the state, welcoming letters that organizers could present.

The group, which is sponsored by the church, heard back from Pence and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

“We were encouraged,” said Cody Lock, a representative of the Sanctuary of Christ Church Cathedral. “Out of all of the elected officials that we did send press releases to, the only two we even heard a response back from were Republicans, which was interesting.”

The Rev. Dr. Shannon MacVean-Brown, acting dean of Christ Church Cathedral, said she wasn't expecting the letters.

"It's nice to know that people from so many backgrounds can be agreeable about the fact that everyone needs to be treated with concern, and it doesn't matter what your identity is sexually — people are people," MacVean-Brown said.

The event will feature a traditional Episcopal service and the reading of names of all the transgender individuals who lost their lives to violence and suicide across the United States in 2015. Forty names are currently on the list, Lock said.

Pence’s letter follows fallout earlier this year from the governor's support of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which angered some gay rights supporters.

Now the Indiana General Assembly is preparing to consider expanding civil rights protections for gay and transgender Hoosiers in 2016. Pence has been silent on his specific views of  that issue, saying he’s made no decision on the best way forward.

Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal during Tuesday’s Organization Day that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s civil rights laws, but would also carve out several exemptions for religious objections.

Call Star reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @indystarchelsea.