Senate GOP Unveils LGBT Legislation

INDIANAPOLIS -- Senate Republicans Tuesday unveiled the details of legislation they say strikes a balance between protecting the LGBT community from discrimination and ensuring Hoosiers’ religious freedom. 

The Senate GOP bill includes protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  It does so while exempting religious institutions – including churches, religious schools, and religious nonprofits.  The measure also, for the first time in state law, defines sexual orientation and gender identity.  Specifically, it says for a person to claim gender identity discrimination, they must prove their gender either through medical records or by showing they’ve lived as the gender they say they are for at least one year.  Senate Republican Leader David Long says that requirement is intended to provide consistency when enforcing the law.

“How do you deal with someone who says ‘I woke up today and I think I’m a different gender?’  That’s not likely to happen but it could happen," Long said. "And how do we allow people to deal with that issue effectively, reasonably and thoughtfully?”

Senate Democratic Leader Tim Lanane says he’s concerned the bill’s definition of gender identity creates a gap that could leave transgender people open to discrimination for at least some period of time. 

“Does that mean for the first year that you are transgender that it’s free to discriminate against you?  Okay, there’s an issue,” Lanane said.

The General Assembly will begin debating the measure in January.