WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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This morning, the Indiana legislature took one step closer to passing a Hate Crimes Bill, when the Senate Committee on Public Policy passed Senate Bill 12.
Authored by State Senator (R-LaPorte) Mike Bohacek and State Senator (R-Lafayette) Ron Alting, SB 12 comes after Gov. Eric Holcomb urged the passage of a hate crimes bill last year, after a synagogue was vandalized with Nazi graffiti. Indiana is one of five states without a hate crimes law. Senate Bill 12 is one of at least 10 bills the state legislature put together to address the governor’s appeal for such a law.
SB 12 would allow a court to consider whether race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, disability, national origin, ancestry, or sexual orientation were ‘aggravating circumstances’ in a crime.
But many conservative organizations across the state oppose the passage of a hate crimes law in the legislature.
In addition to protections for gender identity and race, SB 12 also includes law enforcement and their relatives, political affiliation, and military service, in its list of ‘aggravating circumstances.’
The American Families Association of Indiana, the Indiana Liberty Coalition, the Indiana Conservative Alliance, the Indiana Pastor’s Alliance, Hoosier Patriots, Defenders of Liberty, and the Coalition of Central Indiana Tea Parties, are pushing legislators to vote against Senate Bill 12. Religious conservatives have stated they will not back any bill which includes LGBTQ+ protections.
SB 12 passed out of the Senate Committee on Public Policy this morning, and will need to be brought up for a hearing on the State Senate Floor before being sponsored in the Indiana House of Representatives.
