Indiana lawmakers won't study LGBT protections

Despite a push by Democrats, state lawmakers will not be conducting a public study of gay rights issues in advance of the next session.

The Legislative Council — a group of top lawmakers from both chambers — met Thursday to approve 40 topics for work by summer study committees before the 2016 session. They voted to look at issues at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and consider adding bars to the state smoking ban, but they opted not to consider adding sexual orientation to the state's civil rights law.

Democrats have pushed for a study of the issue, including whether to include statewide nondiscrimination protections for gays, lesbians, and transgender people, in anticipation of a debate during next year's legislative session. But Republicans who control both chambers had blocked such efforts in the past.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said that doesn't mean the issue won't be discussed, it just won't happen in a public committee. Instead, the debate will "go on quietly through the summer," he said.

Full civil rights protections for gays and lesbians has been a heated topic of discussion since late March, when Gov. Mike Pence signed Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act and set off a national furor.

Supporters said the religious objection law would protect religious believers from government overreach. But opponents feared it could be used to allow businesses to refuse services to gays and lesbians. Calls to boycott Indiana went viral on social media and the organizers of several major Indianapolis conventions and sporting events threatened to relocate.

The backlash forced Pence and GOP lawmakers to revise the law to prevent it from eroding local nondiscrimination ordinances. But critics of the RFRA law say that the state's reputation will not fully recover until there are statewide civil rights protections for gays.

At the time, House and Senate leaders said they would start a conversation about banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Democrats said that should occur in a study committee this summer. But on Thursday, the Legislative Council decided not to formalize the discussion. That frustrated Democratic leaders.

"This isn't about politics, this is about what we are going to do public policy wise to show that Indiana is a truly welcoming state," said Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson. "Waiting another year is out of the question."

Pence, a Republican, has said putting gay rights into state law is not part of his agenda and he defended the controversial state law as a protection of Hoosiers' rights to exercise their religious beliefs.

Currently there are no statewide civil right protections for LGBT people — something that Democrats and many business-minded Republicans believe is necessary to fully restore the state's reputation as a welcoming place.

Still, Lanane said he has a positive outlook for the future of gay rights in Indiana. "No matter how hard they try to obstruct it, our governor and his allies in the legislature cannot hold back progress any longer," he said.

"We know what everyday Hoosiers know, that there's no place for discrimination in the Hoosier state," Lanane said. "We'll continue to fight to make that a reality."

Star reporter Tony Cook contributed to this story.

Keith Kassen is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.