The Indiana Senate voted to amend a hate crimes proposal Tuesday, completely scrapping from the bill all protected characteristics, including gender identity.

Senate Bill 12 originally would have allowed judges to consider a stricter sentence for someone who harms or intimidates a person or group based on characteristics such as race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Instead the Senate voted to remove the list of specific characteristics and add that judges can consider bias, more generally, as an aggravating circumstance.

Business leaders in the community and Gov. Eric Holcomb have thrown their support behind a proposal that contains a list of characteristics that includes gender identity.

"I think it covers everyone," said amendment author Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis. "I don't think it leaves anyone out."

Other senators disagreed. Democrat Sen. J.D. Ford, the first openly gay senator, said this amendment would tell people like him they don't exist.

Likewise, Democrat Sen. Lonnie Randolph, an African-American lawmaker asked, "Why don’t you recognize us?”

Republicans had already hashed out the amendment ahead of time in caucus, just as they have in past years, delaying the start of session by almost two hours.

After debating the amendment, the Senate suddenly broke for an impromptu caucus meeting for 30 minutes.

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray will be addressing the media soon after the vote.

In 2016, the Senate passed a hate crimes bill, only to see it die after it failed to receive a hearing in a House committee. And in 2017, Republican Sen. Sue Glick pulled a hate crimes bill she authored from consideration after other lawmakers presented amendments on the Senate floor that likewise would have essentially gutted the measure.

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Call IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.