• Senate Bill 2 – Amends civil rights enforcement statutes to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status and ancestry.
• Senate Bill 35 – Requires schools to designate student restroom facilities within school buildings for use by female or male students and requires that those facilities be used only by students of the biological gender for which the facility is designated. Makes knowingly or intentionally entering a facility designed for the opposite sex a Class A misdemeanor, with exceptions for students and minors.
• Senate Bill 66 – Defines certain provisions of the Constitution of the State of Indiana, including the right to religious freedom and the right to freedom of conscience, as "fundamental rights" and prohibits the government from substantially burdening a fundamental right unless the governmental entity demonstrates that the application of the burden to the person is due to a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of achieving that compelling governmental interest. Repeals the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
• Senate Bill 100 – Prohibits discriminatory practices in acquisition or sale of real estate, housing, education, public accommodations, employment, the extending of credit and public contracts based on military active duty status, sexual orientation or gender identity. Provides protections for religious liberty and conscience. Pre-empts local civil rights ordinances that conflict with the state civil rights law. Provides that the provisions of the act are nonseverable. Repeals a provision that indicates that local entities may adopt civil rights ordinances that differ from state law.
• Senate Bill 170 – Extends anti-discrimination and civil rights statutes to include prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, religion and ancestry.
• Senate Bill 322 – Repeals statutory text that restricts a marriage to be between only a male and a female. Repeals statutory text that provides that a marriage between persons of the same sex is void in Indiana.
• Senate Bill 344 – Prohibits discriminatory practices in acquisition or sale of real estate, housing, education, public accommodations, employment, the extending of credit, and public contracts based on military active duty status or sexual orientation. Provides protections for religious liberty and conscience. Limits the adoption of a civil rights ordinance after Dec. 31, 2015, that applies to a class of persons not covered by state law. Permits local civil rights agencies to order the employment of a veteran. Provides that the provisions of the act are nonseverable. Provides for a study of the civil rights issues related to gender identity.
• House Bill 1031 – Requires schools to designate student restroom, locker room and shower facilities in school buildings for use by female students or male students and requires that those facilities be used only by the students of the biological gender for which the facility is designated. (Rep. Bob Heaton, R-Terre Haute, who represents large parts of Owen and Clay counties as well as portions of Monroe and Vigo counties, is a co-author of this proposal).
• House Bill 1079 – Makes it a Class B misdemeanor to knowingly or intentionally enter a single-sex facility designed only for the opposite gender, with exceptions for children younger than 10 and under certain circumstances, such as performing custodial cleaning or maintenance and taking shelter during an emergency.
• House Bill 1221 – Requires an advisory public question to be put on the November 2016 general election ballot asking voters whether members of the Indiana General Assembly should pas
As state lawmakers prepare to begin the debate over expanding Indiana's civil rights laws to include protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers, Bloomington officials and LGBT advocates have concerns about the first three proposals to receive consideration.
One of the proposals — Senate Bill 66, which lawmakers will discuss at 9 a.m. Wednesday — defines certain rights, including the right to worship, to freely exercise one's religious opinions and right of conscience, to freedom of religion generally and to bear arms, as fundamental.
It's received criticism from LGBT advocates, including Freedom Indiana, a statewide grassroots campaign working to update Indiana’s civil rights law to protect gay and transgender Hoosiers from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, as being a second version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which the proposal also would repeal.
The other two bills expand protections to include all or part of what many LGBT rights advocates want, although both include exemptions for religious objections. Those proposals — Senate Bill 100 and Senate Bill 344 — will be up for discussion at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Local officials and advocates say both of those proposals complicate the issue when there's a simple solution.
"I think those 'four words and a comma' would be a simple enough thing to do to put this all to rest," Bloomington City Council member Susan Sandberg said, referring to proposals that would add "sexual orientation, gender identity" to the state's existing civil rights code.
State Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford), who chairs the committee that will hear SB 66 and sits on the committee that will hear the other proposals, said there's much more to the issue.
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