Indiana hate crimes bill approved with new language News
© WikiMedia (Daniel Schwen)
Indiana hate crimes bill approved with new language

Indiana senators approved a hate crimes bill Thursday after an amendment to remove language on gender identity and sexual orientation. The bill passed 39-10 and would allow a judge to consider bias when imposing criminal penalties.

The amendment replaced language in key section of the bill that removed lists of protected classes such as gender identity, race and sexual orientation.

Sen. Ron Alting (R) and Sen. Greg Taylor (D), two of the bill’s original authors, voted against the final version of the bill. Alting made his opposition to the amendment clear by stating, “I gave my word that if it didn’t have sexual orientation in it and if it didn’t have gender ID in it, this senator would not support it.”

Indiana is one of five states that has no law addressing hate crimes, according to Human Rights Watch. The amended bill now goes before the House.

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