Open letter to State Rep. Peggy Welch

State Rep. Peggy Welch,

The Indiana Daily Student Editorial Board rarely addresses itself directly to an elected official. Our mission does not include lobbying. We endeavor to provide our readership with insightful analyses of significant issues.

But after your unexpected vote to put a constitutional ban of same-sex marriage up for public referendum, we believe the only way to adequately address our serious concerns about your vote is to write to a single member of our community. That person is, of course, you, one of our representatives. 

From despair to anger, we hope you are aware that your vote occasioned a surplus of negative feelings among your constituents. If you take the time to read the wall of your Facebook page, you will find that several of your “supporters” have only liked your profile in order to leave disapproving comments on your wall.

A single letter cannot adequately capture the range or quantity of responses we feel as your misrepresented constituents. So instead, we will confine ourselves to addressing the political dimensions and ramifications of your vote.

The most obvious of these is the unlikelihood of your re-election. Many of the 70 representatives who voted in favor of the discriminatory measure may claim their affirmative votes reflect a majority of their constituents’ own beliefs. Such a lame excuse for endorsing discrimination, however, seems a completely implausible explanation for the representative who represents Bloomington.

In August, a CNN poll showed that a majority of Americans believed same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage. It is virtually unfathomable that support for same-sex marriage would be lower in this gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-friendly city.

The vote that you claim was consistent with your faith was certainly not consistent with your elected duty to represent the people of Bloomington. Why you would abdicate the trust of your constituents in favor of your private prejudices is something you have failed to explain convincingly.

If you’ve been able to define your faith so narrowly as to preclude equal rights to civil marriage for all of your constituents, you have an obviously skewed vision of ethics.
One comment on your Facebook page aptly notes, “You’re (sic) website says you’re fighting to make life better for Hoosiers. Well Ms. Welch, there are LGBT Hoosiers, and apparently you’re not working hard for them.”

As your constituents, we demand an immediate public apology for voting to move Indiana one step closer to enshrining major discrimination against a substantial Hoosier minority into our state’s constitution.

You have said you would respond to comments later this week. We promise we will not have forgotten your vote by Friday.

We should be clear that we will not be satisfied by an attempted justification of your misguided vote. We seek nothing less than an apology for the harm you have done and a firm commitment that you will endeavor to educate yourself about why gay and lesbian people should enjoy the equal rights you voted to deprive them of.
 
Sincerely,
The IDS Editorial Board