In 2015, while Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence signed a law that gave businesses a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people. Even Republican politicians spoke out against it. A massive boycott ensued. Indiana lost $60m and Pence's approval plummeted. The law was changed,
“We're heartsick... For those of us who feel like we spent years building up a great business climate and reputation for the state, you hate to see anything damage it in the way, at least for the moment, it has.”
– Mitch Daniels, former Republican governor of Indiana
– Mitch Daniels, former Republican governor of Indiana
In 2013, Pence closed Scott County's Planned Parenthood, their only HIV and AIDS testing site, despite being warned. This led to the state's worst HIV and AIDS outbreak that was so bad the CDC had to intervene. This is now a case study in public health. huffpost.com/entry/mike-pen…
Pence has spent his career voting against hate crimes legislation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He once said that there's "no evidence" of hate crimes against trans people, and that hate crimes legislation "serves to penalize people for thoughts and beliefs."
Pence, unsurprisingly, voted against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", even though numerous Republican veterans supported doing so (Pence did not serve). He was also a guiding force behind the ban on transgender people in the military.
Of course, this is all to say nothing of his relentless career-long obsession with denying marriage equality to LGBTQ people and attacking our protections in health care. That's a whole thread in itself.
And yet, as we speak, there's more! Pence is leading the effort on a number of proposed federal regulations that would essentially permit federally-funded organizations to discriminate against LGBTQ people. No joke. That's happening right now.
So, I don't know why @brad_polumbo continues to ignore all this--the brutal reality of it all--but it's pretty damn sad. Let's hope he wakes up.
For those who would like to know all of this in more detail, read @HRC's The Real Mike Pence: assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/r…
