South Bend Council To Go Ahead With Closed-Door Meeting On Gay Rights Ordinance

The South Bend Common Council will take up a proposed ordinance to amend the city's human rights code to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in a closed door meeting at tonight's council meeting--a blatant violation of Indiana's Public Meetings Open Door Law. The executive session, which was reported on in the South Bend Tribune last Saturday, apparently has raised no concerns among the local media or the statewide Indiana Press Association, which normally can be counted on to scream from the rooftops on these matters. It's not like there is any cause for concern when our elected officials start meeting behind closed doors to debate matters which, by law, must be debated out in the open.