The Bartholomew County Area branch of the NAACP has organized a public rally at noon Saturday at the Columbus City Hall steps seeking support to amend Indiana’s new hate crimes law that goes into effect July 1.
The local chapter wants to see gender, gender identity and age explicitly added to the law during the next legislative session in January. Supporters of the new law say that’s inferred because the language refers to Indiana’s bias crimes reporting statute.
Chapter President Olisa Humes said she understands that many see the NAACP as an organization mainly for blacks.
“But our job is to defend the civil rights of all people,” Humes said.
This marks the second local rally related to the hate crimes law. The first gathering was March 14 at The Commons and attracted more than 100 people, including Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, and representatives from Cummins Inc.
Gov. Eric Holcomb originally pushed for legislation that was more comprehensive and included traits such as gender and gender identity. Humes said she’s particularly surprised the law that was passed in April does not include gender.
“It saddens me that, with everything going on (with women nationally) that we still have to fight to be recognized,” she said.
Humes is still working on a list of speakers for Saturday, and has reached out to representatives of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Members of the the anti-hate group Not In Columbus and the social justice organization Bartholomew County Indivisible will attend, she said.
Humes said Holcomb recently listened to speakers from the state NAACP share their concerns about the shortfalls of the current hate crimes measure.
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What: A public rally organized by the Bartholomew County Area branch of the NAACP seeking support for amending the state’s new hate crimes bill
When: Noon Saturday
Where: Columbus City Hall steps at 123 Washington St.
Information: Facebook page for NAACP Columbus/Bartholomew
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