POLITICS

Why Indiana lawmakers killed the gay rights debate for this year

Stephanie Wang, Chelsea Schneider, and Tony Cook
IndyStar
Sen. Travis Holdman introduces his two bills SB100 and SB344 in the Senate chambers, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. LGBT legislation was discussed in the Senate Rules Committee hearing with parties from both sides present.

The gay rights debate in the Indiana General Assembly this year is over.

After meeting privately, Senate Republican leaders decided Tuesday to kill legislation that would have protected gay Hoosiers from discrimination. They did so without a full debate or vote.

Senate leader David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the legislation didn’t have enough support from Republicans to warrant further discussion.

The failure of legislation this session means lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers can still be legally discriminated against in most of the state. A person's sexual orientation or gender identity can be used as a reason by a landlord who turns them away from housing, an employer who fires them from a job, or a business owner who refuses to serve them.

The end of the debate marks a huge win for religious conservatives, who have been battling a changing cultural tide on gay rights issues. It also relieves political pressure on Republican Gov. Mike Pence, a born-again Christian who last month questioned the need for such legislation, as he seeks re-election.

Pulling the plug on legislation deals a blow to influential Indiana businesses that pushed for LGBT rights, and to advocacy groups that have, until now, successfully fought to advance the status of LGBT Hoosiers.

Still, Long pledged to revive the issue next year, and said he thinks LGBT rights in Indiana are inevitable.

“It just depends on when,” he said.

He said apprehensions from Pence and House Speaker Brian Bosma over advancing gay rights factored into his decision to stop pursuing legislation.

How people reacted to the death of Indiana gay rights bill

It was a swift death for the gay rights proposal, Senate Bill 344, which was carried by Republican leadership in the Senate. Last week, a Senate committee crafted and gave initial approval to the proposal to extend civil rights to gay Hoosiers, but not transgender people, with some exemptions for religious organizations, faith-based groups and small businesses providing wedding services.

As recently as Thursday, Long said he would bring the debate before the full Senate, stressing the importance of public discussion.

But Tuesday, Senate leaders said both sides remained too entrenched to reach a workable compromise.

"No matter what I do, no matter what I propose," said bill author Travis Holdman, R-Markle, "I cannot move these walls that are on the right and the left hand, because nobody wants to give. Nobody wants to move."

No compromise

Long blamed the death of the gay rights debate on the unwillingness to budge by both LGBT advocates and religious conservatives.

“This effort was unfortunately hampered by well-organized extreme messaging from groups representing both sides of this discussion, many of them from out of state,” Long said. “Neither of those sides were truly seeking a solution.”

Religious conservatives had objected to any extension of civil rights to LGBT people, saying it would protect someone’s sexuality above another person’s religious beliefs.

LGBT advocates had called for unequivocal civil rights protections for gay and transgender Hoosiers, protesting carve-outs for religious groups.

Neither side had been pleased with Senate Bill 344. But Tuesday, religious conservatives claimed a victory while LGBT advocates decried the halt to the debate.

“Rather than further divide Hoosiers and threaten religious freedom, the Indiana Senate wisely chose to put this matter aside and deal with more important and necessary issues,” said Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, in a statement.

He touted the death of the legislation as “good news” for religious freedom.

But Freedom Indiana, a group pushing for LGBT rights, framed it as “shameful.”

“We can’t let lawmakers think for one second that this one failed attempt at a short-sighted bill will make this problem, or our movement, magically disappear,” Freedom Indiana campaign manager Chris Paulsen wrote in an email to supporters.

Indiana Competes, a coalition of businesses advocating for LGBT rights legislation, criticized lawmakers for stopping the debate.

"Failure to continue working toward a remedy casts doubt on the sincerity of the Senate’s effort," initiative manager Peter Hanscom said in a statement.

Transgender Hoosiers visit Statehouse to push for civil rights protections

How to address protections for transgender Hoosiers became a particular quandary for lawmakers.

“The ‘T’ (in LGBT) is a stumbling block at the moment,” Long said.

He still has concerns over whether transgender people should be allowed to use public bathrooms or school locker rooms based on their gender identity, instead of their biological sex.

Without enough support from his own Republican caucus, Long said he would have needed Democratic votes to pass any legislation.

But neither side could reach far enough across the aisle.

Democrats refused to support a proposal that did not include civil rights protections for transgender Hoosiers. But Republicans refused to support a proposal that included them.

“There was not enough support to move the bill with the demands that were made in order to get Democrats’ votes,” said Long, who added that he thought more Republicans would support sexual orientation protections only.

But Minority Senate Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said Democrats tried to strike a deal by offering to support limited protections for transgender Hoosiers – but were turned down.

“The greatest injustice is that, at the end of the day, it’s still legal to discriminate against LGBT Hoosiers in Indiana,” Lanane said. “That we failed to meet that challenge is a disservice to our entire state.”

Political cover

The legislation faced an uphill battle in an election year. Half of Indiana’s 50 state senate seats are up for election and several Republicans who wouldn’t otherwise be up for election are seeking GOP nominations for Congress.

Social conservatives and tea party activists who were upset with recent legislative losses on same-sex marriage and the so-called RFRA “fix” had pledged to exact revenge on Republican lawmakers who crossed them again.

'Super RFRA' measure dies as focus shifts to LGBT rights

Long’s decision to yank the legislation provided political cover for many of his Republican members who cringed at the prospect of voting on such a sensitive issue just days before Friday’s filing deadline for primary challengers.

Long’s decision also spared Pence from a tough decision on the issue amid one of the toughest campaigns of his political career.

If Pence opposed LGBT rights this year as he has done on related issues in the past, his decision would have run counter to public opinion polls that show a majority of Hoosiers support expanded protections for LGBT Hoosiers. But if he had supported them, he would have alienated conservatives, whom he needs to turn out in a tight race

During last year’s RFRA controversy, a group of Indianapolis powerbrokers from the business, tourism and sports communities served as a counterweight to evangelical Christian elements within the Republican Party.

Companies such as Salesforce and Angie’s List and organizations such as the NCAA threatened to cancel travel, projects or events in Indiana amid concerns that RFRA would allow businesses to turn away gay people on religious grounds.

But without such tangible economic threats this year, they failed to wield the same influence.

WIth the death of SB 344 on Tuesday, many business leaders expressed disappointment, but not outrage. The consensus among them: It’s a matter of when – not if – Indiana adopts protections for LGBT people.

“There’s no question in my mind the train has already let the station,” said Jim Kittle, chairman of Kittle’s Furniture and former state GOP chairman. “It’s just a matter of when it’s going to get to the terminal.”

The abrupt end to this year’s legislation sets up another battle at the General Assembly next year.

Business interests vowed to continue the fight, but so too did social conservatives.

“The inaction by our state leaders during this legislative session only serves to weaken Indiana as our state seeks to navigate the unforgiving complexities of a global, technology-driven economy,” Eli Lilly said in a statement. “This issue is not going away for Lilly and hundreds of other Indiana businesses as all of our competitors will continue to use this unnecessary burden against us.”

“Today Senator Long promised this issue would return,” tea party activist Monica Boyer said on Facebook, “but guess what sir... So will we!”