Indiana conservatives fight LGBT license plates
Remember that way-cool trend sweeping the nation where states have license plates devoted to LGBT causes?
Like clockwork, antigay activists in Indiana are working to stop the state from implementing license plates supporting the Indiana Youth Group, which supports LGBT youth. A group called Advance American is leading the way in lobbying lawmakers not to allow license plates to support gay-related causes.
State Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, has tried three times this year to ban the IYG plates by pushing amendments for unrelated motor vehicle bills. House Republicans rebutted his latest attempt this week for fear that the controversial issue would damage support for their broader effort of cracking down on the recent rapid growth of specialty plates — there are 105 of them, according to the House’s transportation committee chairman.
Indiana non-profits can receive $25 out of every $40 spent on a specialty plate. In 2011, the state sold more than 420,000 of them, netting more than $11 million for non-profits. The groups — ranging from the anti-abortion Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers to the sportsmen’s National Wild Turkey Foundation — also get a new way to display their cause, rather than the more traditional bumper sticker.
Please. This is not about the problem of “too many specialty plates.” About 100 LGBT plates have already been requested in South Carolina, where they were issued last month. Indiana needs to get with the picture and make this happen.
| reblogged gaywrites | originally gaywrites |
Coming from Indiana, this kind of makes me sick. :(
How fucking typical for Indy. I live Indianapolis and go to IYG, the youth group this plate supports. And just so you...