Dear Indiana senators James W. Merritt Jr., Richard Bray, Carlin Yoder, Brent Waltz, Brent Steele, Ryan Mishler, Connie Lawson, Jim Tomes, Doug Eckerty, John W. Waterman, Travis Holdman, Randy Head, James Birck, Greg Walker, Jim Buck, Phil Boots, Sue Landske, Patricia Miller, Dennis Kruse, R. Michael Young, and President Pro Tem David Long:

As a fellow Hoosier and Indiana resident, I am appalled and disgusted to see your names attached to a letter that took away specialty license plates from three Indiana nonprofits, including 4-H, the Greenways Foundation and Indiana Youth Group, the last of which was the first to be singled out in this measure.

According to their website, Indiana Youth Group “provides safe places and confidential environments where self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are empowered through programs, support services, social and leadership opportunities and community service.” What do you have against a group trying to help gay youth not feel so isolated and alone in a time when suicide is highly prevalent among this demographic? What threat did they pose to you?

As an elected official, it is your job to stand up for these organizations, not help execute a political witch hunt. There is simply no excuse for completely revoking the sale of these plates based on a minor infraction for which many other organizations and universities often break.

If giving out low-numbered plates to donors as thank-you gifts were truly the issue here, a simple warning letter to the groups in question would have easily sufficed. It is abundantly clear this was a politically motivated move and not about a simple policy infraction.

How many Hoosiers do you have to throw under the bus in a grab for power and votes? To what lengths will you go to ensure that an already marginalized group of minorities continues to be left out? Where is your moral compass?

Chris Walls