Columbus, Gov. Mike Pence's hometown, advances LGBT protections

In Gov. Mike Pence's hometown of Columbus, one of the state's largest employers and one of the state's most influential conservative lobbyists faced off on Indiana's most contentious political issue.

On one side, Columbus-based engine maker Cummins argued for civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers, to allow businesses to compete for talent on a global scale.

On the other, Indianapolis-based conservative lobbyist Eric Miller of Advance America argued that the addition would harm religious expression.

With the major players in their corners, it was in many ways reminiscent of state battles over same-sex marriage and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — and perhaps prescient of the statewide debate yet to come over gay and transgender rights.

Gay rights advocates likely will look to Indiana's big-business interests again to influence the issue.

"Cummins has a long foundation of standing up for what's right," said Mark Levett, Cummins' vice president of corporate responsibility and CEO of the Cummins Foundation.

He cited a quotation by former Cummins leader J. Irwin Miller that is discussed with every new Cummins employee: "In the search for character and commitment, we must rid ourselves of inherited, even cherished biases and prejudices."

Cummins is the largest employer in Columbus, with a workforce of about 8,000 in Indiana.

The company recruits large numbers of employees from out of state — but it also has lost employees, said Mark Osowick, vice president of human resources operations, or failed to entice candidates to Indiana "because we're not always as inclusive and as supportive as we need to be."

"The competition for talent globally is absolutely fierce," Osowick said. The type of employee Cummins wants, he added, expects to work for a company and in a community that supports diversity.

In Columbus, a city council of all Republicans unanimously supported this week the extension of civil rights to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. They fought to tamp down fears and misconceptions, outlining plainly what changes would or would not do.

Councilman Frank Miller said it amounted to minor changes to an existing law that reflected "this was the right time to do the right thing."

"I do not see this as a political party issue, nor a religious issue," he wrote in an email to The Indianapolis Star. "This is a civic issue of affording basic human needs and rights to individuals."

Without the inclusion of sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes in state civil rights law, several Indiana cities and communities have passed their own local human rights ordinances to address the issue. Indianapolis, Bloomington, Evansville and South Bend have long had such laws in place, with Zionsville, Terre Haute, Hammond and Muncie recently joining the list.

But strong opposition has stopped proposals in Elkhart and Goshen. The Goshen mayor later issued an executive order to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Similar opposition helped spur controversy in Carmel, where an anti-discrimination proposal goes up for discussion again Sept. 17 in a city finance committee meeting.

In Columbus, council member Miller said the majority of residents who contacted him or spoke in public forums "have been enthusiastically in favor of this amendment."

"Those in opposition," he said, "have either been misinformed as to what this change does, or stirred by sensationalism in the media from across the state and country, by the RFRA 'effect' as I call it."

But Eric Miller, the lobbyist, said the proposal would be unfair to Christians, particularly religious business owners who would not want to provide services for a same-sex wedding.

"The government would now be able to punish severely that individual if he chose to not violate his sincerely held religious belief," he said. "The proposed ordinance would be discriminating against someone who believes marriage is between one man and one woman."

If the City Council banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, just as it bans discrimination based on race, Miller said, "you are now equating somebody that believes in marriage between one man and one woman in the same category as a racist."

The final vote on Columbus' proposal is scheduled for the next council meeting on Sept. 15.

"When we look at Columbus in 20 years, this will seem like a no-brainer," Councilman Frank Jerome said.

Democratic lawmakers say they will push during next year's legislative session for amending the state civil rights laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Pence, a Republican who grew up in Columbus and represented the city as part of his U.S. House district for 12 years before his election as governor in 2012, has said he doesn't tolerate discrimination against anyone. But he and Republican legislative leaders haven't indicated support for putting protections for sexual orientation in state law.

"The governor is listening to people on all sides of the issue in order to determine how best to move forward," Pence spokeswoman Kara Brooks said Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.