By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
June 6, 2025
At Wednesday evening’s town hall meeting in Greenfield, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith defended his recent social media rant against Pride Month, repeatedly saying he offered the message out of love, but many in the crowd confronted him over his remarks, describing his words as hate speech that could incite violence against members of the LGBTQ community.
“Your ignorant, rude comments towards the LGBTQ community put youth at risk,” Katie Lansel, whose oldest daughter is a lesbian, said to Beckwith. “How can you claim to be a man of God when you hold so much hate in your heart?”
Beckwith held the town hall at the Hancock County Courthouse annex building and answered questions from the constituents for more than two hours. The crowd, which filled many of the seats in the room, seemed to be mostly opposed to the lieutenant governor as several people were wearing LGBTQ T-shirts and hats. Beckwith’s staff worked to keep the meeting from disintegrating into catcalls and mocking laughter, as happened at the town hall last month in Ellettsville, by quickly approaching those who shouted derogatory comments from their seats and instructing them to be quiet and wait in line if they had a question to ask the Republican lieutenant governor.
As in the other town halls his office has held elsewhere in the state since the legislative session ended in late April, Beckwith appeared relaxed and prepared to respond to any inquiry. Many people waited patiently in a long line for the chance to get to the microphone, where some challenged his interpretation of the Bible and the U.S. Constitution, while others asked about property taxes, climate change and Medicaid.
However, most of the questions and much of the anger Wednesday evening were fueled by Beckwith’s Facebook post about Pride Month, the annual June celebration that celebrates gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender culture and had its origins in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. A multicolored flag, often referred to as the rainbow flag, symbolizes support for the LGBTQ community.
The lieutenant governor began his controversial social media message with a warning to parents, “The Rainbow Beast Is Coming For Your Kids!” and then listed unfounded allegations about corporations and government institutions launching what he described as an annual “siege on childhood innocence” to push Pride Month’s pro-LGBTQ agenda. Beckwith ended his post with the warning, “PARENTS: WAKE UP. Are you raising your child – or offering them to the rainbow beast?”
Beckwith remained calm as he spoke to the Greenfield audience and said he did not hate anyone in the LGBTQ community. Yet, reciting passages from the Bible, he said LGBTQ people were “living an unnatural lifestyle” and he was going to “keep speaking the truth.”
“Now, you may disagree with me, that’s fine,” Beckwith said. “You can disagree with me, but if I believe that in my heart of hearts, would it not be unloving if I didn’t share that with people? I have an obligation to share the truth.”
In an exchange with Lansel, Beckwith indicated he did not see his comments as causing harm.
Lansel said that her daughter, even as a toddler, wanted to look like a boy and when she turned 6, she cut her hair short and began to wear “boy clothes.” She thrived in high school, Lansel said of her child, and became an honor roll student and varsity athlete even though some teachers, as well as some other students and parents, were judgmental.
“She was never offered to the ‘rainbow beast,’ but rather allowed to be who she truly felt she was,” Lansel told the lieutenant governor.
Beckwith replied, “I’ll just say, first of all, I don’t have hate in my heart. You may think I do, but I love you. I love your daughter.”
Lansel said she did not believe him and became emotional talking about how her daughter, an adult now living in Florida, has been confronted for going into the women’s lavatory. “She’s just trying to use the restroom. She’s just trying to exist, but she looks like a masculine female, so she has been accosted by people for just existing, Micah,” Lansel said. “Your comments and your rhetoric make it worse.”
The crowd cheered and clapped as the two continued their conversation. At one point, Lansel said that not everyone had the same views of religion as Beckwith. He responded that people had the freedom to hold other religious beliefs but, he said, “So do I. I have the freedom to share what I believe is true.”
Stepping up to the microphone, Sandy Shelton said her statement “was going to probably ruffle a lot of feathers,” but she told Beckwith that his “message is beautiful.” She described herself as a firm believer in God, having been raised in the Apostolic Church, and said she had been to Beckwith’s church, calling him a “great pastor.”
Shelton recounted her personal story of her ex-husband with whom she raised four children, but who struggled with drug addiction, which she blamed on his being gay. He was slain in 2024 by his former lover, she said. In their last conversation, she said she begged her ex-husband to change and told him his lifestyle was going to send him to hell.
“God says this and it settles it,” Shelton said, explaining her religious beliefs. “I don’t care who gets upset. It’s the truth and only the truth will set you free.”
Beckwith said he appreciated her remarks and then moved to the next person in line.
Saying he wanted to lower the temperature of the town hall, Kevin Richey, a member of the Knightstown Town Council, offered some sympathy by telling Beckwith that as a public servant, he has faced angry constituents as well. He said he was not asking Beckwith to change his beliefs, but advised the lieutenant governor to be more careful in articulating those beliefs.
Richey described himself as a Republican and father of two children and said, by Beckwith’s definition, he was a Christian nationalist because he, too, was Christian and loved his country. Also, he said he was a gay man and he took things very personally. Beckwith’s comments about LGBTQ individuals, he said, would have been devastating for his mother to read.
“Words do hurt more than sticks and stones,” Richey said. “They really do.”
Thanking Richey, Beckwith described himself as a politician who shares what he is really thinking, rather than mimicking other politicians who just tell constituents what they think the voters want to hear.
“I don’t always say everything perfectly,” Beckwith said. “I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t say it perfectly, but what I will always do is try to communicate honestly, openly. I’ll share what I truly believe.”
Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
