Despite Indiana's LGBT Battle, Issue Absent From Last Debate for Governor

They took turns portraying Indiana as a state on the move or a state in decline. They touted job opportunities for the disabled, agreed that drug enforcement must focus on rehabilitation for users and prosecution for dealers, and talked up their own dedication to public service.

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They took turns portraying Indiana as a state on the move or a state in decline. They touted job opportunities for the disabled, agreed that drug enforcement must focus on rehabilitation for users and prosecution for dealers, and talked up their own dedication to public service.

 

Indiana gubernatorial candidates John Gregg, Eric Holcomb and Rex Bell even got into a possible pardon for Keith Cooper, a Chicago-area man wrongfully convicted of armed robbery, during their third and final debate at the University of Southern Indiana Tuesday night.

 

But while the face-off in USI's Performance Center ostensibly was devoted to health and social issues, Democrat Gregg told reporters afterward it surprised him for what territory it did not cover -- namely, the state's debate over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights.

 

Gregg said it has "by far been the most important social issue" in Indiana in recent years, citing what he called its paramount importance to business and industry.

 

The Legislature's failure to pass statewide LGBT rights legislation "has damaged our reputation, plus it makes us look like we're not respecting all Hoosiers," Gregg said.

 

Gregg also came out forcefully for repeal of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which critics feared would allow businesses to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation, and in favor of a bill declaring certain crimes hate crimes. Bell also made clear his opposition to RFRA.

 

Republican Holcomb, who has decried what he calls Gregg's focus on sexual orientation issues and suggested it is not crucial to voters, did not share Gregg's dismay over its absence from the debate. Suggesting it didn't come up because it has been discussed in other debates, Holcomb said RFRA and its attendant controversial implications have been publicly aired, and neither side seems willing to give ground.

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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