Businesses show support for Indiana’s LGBTQ+ community
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Business owners in central Indiana are coming out against a group of Indiana legislation that would affect the LGBTQ+ community.
Advocates are calling the bills the “Slate of Hate.” They target pronoun changes in schools, discussion of sexuality, and transgender children receiving gender-affirming care with parental consent.
The owners of Robert Goodman Jewelers are coming out firmly against these bills.
“It shouldn’t matter if I know somebody. It’s a matter of respect,” Bob Goodman said.
Goodman and his wife, Rose-Marie, own Robert Goodman Jewelers. They want it to be clear their Zionsville business accepts all people.
Bob said, “It’s addressing their desire, as it appears to Rose-Marie and me, to erase a community from existing in our state. I have to say I don’t understand what they are so scared of.”
Goodman’s jewelry store is not the only retailers to come out in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Silver in the City in downtown Indianapolis posted support on Facebook, describing its business as “A place where an LGBTQ+ child can feel seen, welcomed, and accepted exactly as they are.”
The post continued and said, in part, “This session’s slate of bills targeting the LGBTQ community and youth, their parents, teachers, librarians, and healthcare providers are counter to this state’s motto of #hoosierhospitality.”
Goodman finds the Legislature’s behavior very concerning as a Jewish individual. “I’m Jewish and so is my wife. For me, as somebody who’s studied history over the years, I look back and I see that this has happened before and it appears that it’s happening again, and so it really strikes home to me as to why they are doing this.”
Goodman spoke about the holocaust and noted the LGBTQ+ community was targeted alongside the Jewish. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates hundreds to thousands of LGBTQ people were killed.
“We have to stand up for each other. We have to be there,” Goodman said. “You know what they want to do is divide and conquer. They want to split us all off from one another and that way they can beat us easier.”
Other LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have denounced these bills as they have come out saying they are harmful to the community.
The Indy Rainbow Chamber of Commerce keeps a list of LGBTQ-friendly businesses online.
The full text of the Silver in the City post can be found here.