THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

"We urge the House to reject this discriminatory bill, which can make many Hoosiers vulnerable to sometimes life-threatening forms of discrimination. Just this week, we heard testimony from Lambda Legal plaintiff Amy Sandler, who described the heartbreaking loss of her wife Niki Quasney to ovarian cancer. She also talked about her deep concern for her nieces, cousins and all women in Indiana who could be refused birth control medication, which has been shown to decrease the risk of ovarian cancer by 50%, because a pharmacist could claim providing birth control medication violates his or her religious beliefs. Indiana's bill is trying to create a "freedom to discriminate," twisting the vision of our Nation's founders into something unrecognizable. Indiana should not be a part of these efforts we are seeing across the country, where legislation is described as protecting religion, when in reality it aims to protect discrimination."

Amy Sandler, the surviving spouse of Niki Quasney and plaintiff in Lambda Legal's successful lawsuit that won marriage for same-sex couples in Indiana, Bogan v. Baskin, gave testimony at the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on Monday, March 16th.

Read Amy Sandler's testimony here: www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20150316_sandler-testimony .

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

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