LGBTQ community, others respond to Cass County Republicans' letter

Dec. 20—Shaun and Erik Henderson-Vigil want to be the face of LGBTQ marriage in Northwest Indiana.

They were the first same-sex couple to marry, they recalled.

The recent Respect for Marriage Act law adds an extra layer of protection to their marriage. Unlike abortion, it will be more difficult to repeal same-sex and interracial marriage. For them, it's a slight sigh of relief.

There are still struggles ahead. They see that in the recent letter the Cass County Republican Party sent to state senator Todd Young, censuring him for voting in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act.

In their letter, county Republicans said same sex marriage devalued the family and would lead to churches being punished for their religious beliefs. The Respect for Marriage Act also protects those religious beliefs.

"The Republican party of Indiana endorsed you running as a Republican senator from our great state with the belief that we could entrust you with representing out values," the letter from the Cass County Republicans said. "On this matter (regarding same-sex marriage), you had previously stated that you felt matters like this were best handled by the states, not in the federal venue. Now we find — right after we endorsed you and voted for you in November — that you've changed your mind."

Support for same-sex marriage has increased by over 20 points in Indiana since Obergefell became law in 2015. A 2021 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 65% of Hoosiers were in favor of the LGBTQ community having the right to marry. Nationwide, support was at 75%.

Shaun and Erik have been married for 8 years now. They are husbands, fathers and grandfathers.

Yet, there has always been a sense of fear regarding their marriage.

"We have always been afraid that our legal right was going to be taken away from us," said Shaun. "We were always afraid that something would happen that would rip our life and marriage away from us."

Married life

On June 25, 2014, the U.S District Court of the Southern District of Indiana ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Baskin v. Bogan. An emergency stay would be place on June 27. For a matter of hours same sex marriage was legal in Indiana.

Shaun and Erik grabbed a lawyer, witnesses and hurried to the Fulton County court house in Rochester. They faced some opposition, but the lawyer was there to remind the clerk of the new law. They were soon married.

"I felt that we deserved it like everyone else," Erik said. "I just wanted the same thing everyone else had."

One year later, on their first wedding anniversary, same-sex marriage became law in the United States.

It's not easy being a same-sex married couple in Fulton County.

They still can't walk down the road, holding hands, being in the middle of cornfields, Shaun said.

Last summer, they opened the Awakened Meadows Farmers Market. Logansport and Rochester visitors made the market a success. But Erik said he received pushback handing out flyers in Fulton.

"'You don't need to be delivering that to me,'" Erik recalled hearing from his neighbors.

Erik said their family should matter as much as any other family.

"We are just like anyone else," Erik said. "We are like that family across the street."

It's not all negative for the married couple, however. Erik, a teacher in Logansport, said the Logansport Community School Corporation has been overwhelming in their support.

"Thank goodness I had them," he said. "A lot of school corporations wouldn't have done that."

Indiana LGTBQ youth struggle

The Cass County Republican Party is led by chair David Richey and vice-chair Becky Comoglio.

Richey is a teacher at Lewis Cass High School. Comoglio is on the Lewis Cass school board.

Last Wednesday night, Dec. 14, at the Lewis Cass school board meeting Comoglio said she supported the letter and said their views on the Respect for Marriage act had nothing to do with Lewis Cass.

But there are LGBTQ students at Lewis Cass.

"Every student at Lewis Cass can trust me to work in their best interest," Comoglio said.

On Dec. 15, The Trevor Project, an organization focused on preventing LGBTQ youth suicide, released a state by state look at how LGBTQ youth were faring in each state.

In Indiana, they reported, 45% of LGBTQ youth had considered suicide over the course of 2022. Fifteen percent attempted to take their life.

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents reported experiencing threats or physical harm while 76% said they had been discriminated against.

Only 40% of Indiana LGTBQ youth felt their home was an affirming place. Forty-two percent said their school was an affirming location.

Erik Henderson-Vigil said that when teachers make public statements opposing LGBTQ rights it's similar to saying that LGBTQ students aren't worthy.

"It's just putting one more thing on those kids. Like Florida and 'don't say gay'," he said. "These kids, they are just coming out and being comfortable. Now people are trying to push the lid back down. You can't push that lid back down. We have to let everybody out."

It was reported on the Indianapolis Star website on Friday, Dec. 16, that Indiana Republicans will pursue their own "don't say gay" bill in 2023.

Letter response

The Todd Young letter was published on Twitter by CNN correspondent Melanie Zanona on Dec. 8, 2022. "Newsweek" also published a story about the Cass County Republican Party's response to Young.

Lita Rouser, a member of the Cass County Democratic Party, asked why the Republicans didn't instead direct their anger toward issues such as Indiana's high maternal mortality and infant mortality rates or the state's water pollution issues.

"Did they write a letter to Todd Young about these issues, too?" she asked. "Or is it just the two guys down the street getting married that bothers them? Hoosiers overwhelmingly support marriage equality. The Republican Party should get out of people's bedrooms and get to work on the real problems facing Hoosiers."

Paul Novak, founder and co-president of Kokomo Pride called Todd Young's vote, and the votes of the other 11 Republican senators who voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, ethically sound and reflecting the views of the majority of Americans.

Novak cited a June 2022 Gallop poll that said 71% of Americans supported same-sex marriage. However, 58% of churchgoers still oppose marriage equality when it comes to the LGBTQ community.

"Unfortunately, some people and organizations, including the Cass County Republican Party, continue to spread falsehoods, stoke fears and weaponize love and marriage in an attempt to revoke the rights of LGBT people and interracial couples," Novak said. "Their actions and words show why it was important for the Respect for Marriage Act to become law to protect the basic, constitutional rights of all Americans."

Shaun and Erik Henderson-Vigil both worried about the welfare of LGBTQ students at Lewis Cass.

"I would be so concerned as the leadership for Lewis Cass, the message I am sending to the children," Shaun said. "The message I am sending to anyone that may be open about any side of their life, that they are not going to be protected."

"Teachers are supposed to be trained in best practices for every student," said Erik. "It doesn't matter where their students are from. To me that's not best practice."