INDIANAPOLIS -- A bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against gays and transgender people likely will not get a hearing in the state Senate.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard D. Bray, R-Martinsville, said that he did not intend for his committee to hear the bill.
Supporters of the bill said that it had suffered from recent controversy over proposals to ban same-sex marriage. But they said the basic legal protections offered by the bill were a separate and more pressing issue.
''We have encountered a number of legislators who said, because the gay marriage issue is so hot, it is not a good time to deal with this,'' said the Rev. Jeff Miner, chairman of the Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination.
''Our response is that every year you wait, another batch of Hoosiers will have lost their jobs or homes,'' he added.
A handful of protesters at a rally Tuesday wore paper bags, saying they feared they would lose their jobs if their employers learned their sexual orientation.
The bill, authored by Sen. Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis, would it illegal for employers and housing providers to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Some Indiana cities, including Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Lafayette and West Lafayette, have local regulations that offer some protection. But there is no statewide law that covers private employment, public accommodations, education, housing, credit or union practices.
According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, three states -- Minnesota, New Mexico and Rhode Island -- have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Eleven other states ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Another Indiana Senate committee advanced a bill that would ban same-sex marriages in Indiana to the full chamber Tuesday, but legislators in the House have said it is unlikely to receive a hearing there.
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