What's Wrong With Indiana Equality

There are some topics I really enjoy writing about on this blog site. There are other topics I don't enjoy talking about. But sometimes you have to talk about the things you don't like as a way of trying to make them better. And that explains why I am now writing about Indiana Equality.

IE is the currently the state's largest GLBT organization. And if it gets its way, it will be the only voice for Indiana's GLBT community. That is not to say that speaking with one voice is necessarily a bad thing. Speaking with the voice currently being communicated by IE, though, is a bad thing.

My first big problem with IE is how undemocratically it is run. The current and only president in recent memory of IE is by all impressions self-appointed. Other people who serve as officers or board members serve at the discretion of this one person. None of them have the backbone to stand up to her, even when they know how wrong she is. This person's management of the organization is dictatorial and unfriendly. Policy decisions are made with no coherent or rational explanation other than that is what this person says IE must do. Financial records are closely guarded with only very sketchy information being shared with the people it expects to financially support it.

While the organization is reknowned for patting itself on the back for the major progress it has made in this state on matters of gay civil rights, the reality is that our laws are among the worst in the nation. Even when it comes to matters on which it has achieved success, such as a toothless hate crimes reporting law, IE leaders repeatedly misrepresent this legislative achievement as a hate crimes law. It is not, and Indiana is one of only 4 states in the country which does not have a hate crimes law.

When Eric Miller and the Christian right were trumpeting SJR-7 as part of their campaign to demonize gays and lesbians and write discrimination of them into the Indiana Constitution, IE urged a very low profile opposition to it. Others could not accept that, such as Rock Indiana's Pepper Partin. She organized a counter-protest to the State House rally Eric Miller was planning. "You can't do that" she was told by IE leadership. "There can be no rally because the turnout will be very small and we will look weak." "We are in charge, and you have to do what we say." Their approach was to have these secret one-on-one meetings with key lawmakers involving certain members of the IE leadership who understand the political process and are respected by the legislators they assure us. You people you see are just sewer rats who must stay hidden away. Partin, while initially disillusioned by IE's efforts to undermine her rally, ran with her heart and her head. And she succeeded in bringing out more than a thousand members of the GLBT community to protest SJR-7. In the end, even the IE leadership was fighting for a place on the stage to give the impression they had been a part of it all from the very beginning.

Partin, ever the wise one, collected the names and addresses of all the people who gathered for the rally she organized. And we all know how important mailing lists can be for political and fundraising causes. And guess who demanded the list for its own. Ignoring their threats and other efforts at intimidation, Partin maintained the integrity of her list much to IE's disappointment.

The greatest achievement in Indiana by far is the passage of Indianapolis' Human Rights Ordinance. IE, to its credit, reached out to the many other GLBT-related organizations to form a Region 8 coalition to build a grassroots effort after the debacle a year ago when the city-county council first voted down the HRO while IE leadership was confidently predicting its passage. Two Region 8 participants in particular, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Commitee and PFLAG, performed yeoman's work on behalf of the coalition. But in doing so, IE leadership used the guise of the coalition in an attempt to control the activities of other groups within the coalition. In the end, the effort was successful, but there was plenty of credit to spread around, and it wouldn't have been necessary at all had IE not so badly handled the first round of voting on the HRO.

With the success of the HRO, IE is not satisfied with a loose-knit coalition. It insists upon a complete command and control structure that gives it authority to dictate policy to all other GLBT organizations. This aspect of their governing style raised its ugly head in the form of a non-disclosure agreement it is insisting that all coalition members sign as a condition to participation. Any information or discussion at one of its meeting that IE deems "confidential", coalition members are forbidden from discussing with anyone outside the coalition. What happens if someone violates the "gag rule?" An inquisition of sorts will be conducted to root out the leaker, who will be promptly expelled from the coalition. Is this anyway to conduct the affairs of an organization fighting for civil rights? This coalition member won't be signing any such agreement, so that will make AI an ex-coalition member.

No sooner had the HRO passed than we saw legislation offered in the Indiana House of Representatives to void Indianapolis' HRO and other similar ordinances adopted by other cities in Indiana to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. As debate on the measure began, no one from IE had bothered to alert the GLBT community to the draconian proposal. After AI alerted the community through the gayindy.org list serve and a post on this site, we were assured that IE had been on top of it all along. Their paid lobbyist was on the scene and springing into action. They had met with Speaker Bosma and convinced him to kill the amendment on our behalf, even though the decision had already been made to withdraw it before anyone spoke to the Speaker. He's not such a bad guy they said. The only problem was that neither IE nor the lobbyist were registered to lobby at the time. It seems that someone had not only forgotten to file legally required activity reports for the past year, but had also failed to register the organization and its paid lobbyist to lobby during the current legislative session. Weeks after AI reported on this small detail, late reports and late registrations were duly filed with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission.

An equally disturbing aspect of the IE leadership is the manner in which it continuously feeds disinformation to members of the GLBT community about various political leaders who have never demonstrated any support for our issues. As a life-long member of the Party of Lincoln, I would like every Republican to be with the GLBT on its issues. But I'm also a realist, and I understand that many are steadfast in their opposition of recognizing any form of rights for members of the GLBT community. And I'm not afraid to call out those Republicans who are particularly strident in their efforts against the GLBT community.

It is quite an anomaly that the IE leadership is controlled by persons who describe themselves as Republicans. Regardless of one's party affiliation, the actions of a politician, not mere words, should determine whether a person is considered friend or foe. I find myself tirelessly arguing with IE leadership about persons they claim are friends of the GLBT community whose record in public office on our issues are abysmal. At the same time, persons who are clearly on our side are taken for granite.

Contrast these two recent examples. Hard-working members of the Indianapolis GLBT community endeavor to help two friends of the cause by hosting a fundraiser for Rep. David Orentlicher (D) and Susan Fuldauer, a Democrat who is seeking to oust House Speaker Brian Bosma, who has pursued the most anti-gay agenda in the history of the Indiana House of Representatives. This sensible act brought disapproval from IE's leadership. "How dare someone else in the GLBT community do something?" "That's our job."

The next example involves the paid lobbyist for IE giving a $500 campaign contribution to the re-election campaign of Rep. Woody Burton (R) during his tough primary battle with Ron West. That would be the same Rep. Burton who sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act, sponsored anti-gay parenting legislation, compared homosexuality to bestiality, voted for SJR-7 and has a zero record of support on anything pertaining to the GLBT community. If you would think members of IE leadership would shrink from defending this unconscionable contribution, you would be wrong. That Woody must be one smart politican. He's got the gays and the Christian right fighting for his re-election at the same time. Gee, I wonder which side Woody's going to vote with?

Notwithstanding the horrendous record of IE's current leadership, as luck would have it, a well-intentioned person in a few days will bless them with a generous contribution. He will be rewarded with a seat on the board and patted on the back, but the same failed leadership will be in charge making the same bad decisions it has made time and time again. In the past, I have contributed to IE and supported its efforts in hopes that things would improve, but I'm frankly on my last leg with the organization. A fresh start with free ideas and fresh leaders is needed. I just can't eat anymore of this stale bread that is IE.