Rally supporting transgender rights held at Statehouse

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Signs in support of civil rights protections for transgender people in Indiana welcomed lawmakers as they made their way to work Monday morning.

A bill to create civil rights protections for gays and lesbians is up for a vote this week. The bill does not include transgender men and women.

The activist group “Freedom Indiana” organized Monday’s rally. They say the rights of over 40,000 transgender people in Indiana are being neglected.

“First of all, there’s too many transgender Hoosiers for people not to have met any by a certain point in anyone’s life,” Korvin Bothwell, with Freedom Indiana, said. “Secondly we’re giving people the opportunity to meet us. We’re here today to connect with our lawmakers, to request protection in the civil rights bill.”

Last week a Senate committee passed a bill to create a commission to study the issue of transgender rights.