Mike Pence’s hometown to host gay pride festival
The face painting, rainbow S’mores on a stick and drag performances planned for Columbus, Ind.’s first gay pride festival are for fun.
But organizers hope the April 14 event also will send a message of inclusiveness from the hometown of Vice President Pence, who has a long record of being on the opposite side of issues important to the gay and lesbian community.Â
“Most people would think that all of us here are also anti-LGBT,†said Erin Bailey, the high school senior organizing the April 14 event. “But there are plenty of us who very much support the LGBT community and are members of the community.â€
Still, count the vice president among those applauding Erin’s initiative.
“Vice President Pence commends Erin Bailey for her activism and engagement in the civic process,†spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said in a statement. “As a proud Hoosier and Columbus native, he’s heartened to see young people from his hometown getting involved in the political process.â€
While Columbus hasn’t previously had a gay pride festival, it is one of a handful of Indiana communities that has added LGBT protections to city ordinances.
The anti-discrimination change was made in 2015 after the state debate over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that Pence signed into law as Indiana’s governor. A backlash from businesses forced Pence to accept changes to the law to clarify that it could not be used to deny services to gays and lesbians for religious reasons.
During his dozen years in Congress, Pence advocated for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, opposed measures to protect gay men and lesbians from discrimination in the workplace, and opposed expanding the definition of hate crimes to cover offenses based on a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
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Pence steps off an Air Force plane similar to the one he will use after being sworn in, as he, his wife, Karen Pence, center, holding cat “Oreo,” and daughter Charlotte Pence holding “Pickle,” arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Jan. 9, 2017.Â
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But views on such LGBT issues are varied in Columbus. Cummins Inc., the city’s largest employer, was among the Indiana companies that opposed the state’s religious freedom act. In 2000, the engine maker also was the first Fortune 500 company based in Indiana to offer health insurance and other benefits to the same-sex partners of employees.
Cummins has pushed for a statewide nondiscrimination law that protects gay and transgender Hoosiers — in part to foster a better business environment.
Pence’s record on gay rights
Indiana’s high profile debate over the issue was one of the defining aspects of Pence’s gubernatorial years. He continues to be criticized nationally for his overall record on gay rights.
• Gay Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon wasn’t pleased with the selection of Pence to head the U.S. delegation attending the Olympic opening ceremony.
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Figure Skater Adam Rippon doesn’t want his month-long dispute with Vice President Mike Pence over gay rights to overshadow his Olympic performance or the American team. (Feb. 13)
AP
• Comedian John Oliver recently published a spoof of a book about the Pence family rabbit. In the spoof, a male bunny marries another male bunny over the objections of a stink bug judge who has a resemblance to Pence.
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John Oliver came after Mike Pence with a surprise children’s book about a gay bunny
Time
• Samantha Aulick, who co-owns a Columbus catering company with her wife and is making the rainbow S’mores for the festival, said Pence often comes up as a subject of conversation when they travel out of state and tell people where they’re from.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, that’s where Mike Pence is from,’†she said. Aulick responds: “Yeah, but it’s not all like that.â€
‘Athens of the prairie’
Columbus, once described as “Athens of the prairie†by Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Johnson, is one of the top cities in the nation for architectural quality and innovation.
The recent independent movie Columbus celebrating that unique history caught many by surprise.
“Who knew?â€Â the Washington Post film critic wrote about Columbus being a mecca of midcentury modernist architecture.
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Sales for John Oliver and Pences’ bunny books multiply like, well, rabbits
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Follow Maureen Groppe on Twitter: @mgroppe
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