The first Indiana Tea Party
Broad Ripple Canal in Indianapolis
July 28, 2007
In 2007, The Indiana Tea Party was formed by me and some of my libertarian friends who were activists for FairTax.org. In the beginning it was me, Sean Shepard and Andy Horning who did most of the heavy lifting for the first event on July 4, 2007 at The Governor's Mansion in Indianapolis.
Yes, I was a dominatrix just a year before we launched the cultural movement which changed the course of local politics in Indiana and caused the biggest political upset in our state's history. I tell the whole story in my book, Spanking City Hall, but here's a short synopsis.
Indiana property taxes were ordered to be reassessed and local government botched the job and taxes skyrocketed. Imagine your monthly bill going up $1000! There were people affected that severely.
About 500 people showed up at the first rally I organized in just three days riding house to house on my bicycle. There was no Facebook or Twitter that year. Not only did neighbors show up (some with real pitchforks) so did every Indy television station and the Indy Star. There was so much media, that I started my first blog the next day to document it all -- Hoosiers For Fair Taxation.
I'd love to say throwing a Tea Party was my idea, but it wasn't. I have to give credit to a gentleman in the crowd who shouted, "We need a tea party!"
He had me at 'party'. I love throwing parties, so I decided the next rally would be called a Tea Party. And that's how it formed.
The movement, via cultural activism, was designed to put the power in the hands of The People. We were careful to make sure it was non-partisan. Unfair taxation knows no political party and everyone's home, regardless of how they vote, was threatened.
While the original three of us are libertarian, we founded the tea party not as a political party, but simply as a party. A big cultural party to play out in the media. And boy did they cover us! They played the Tea Party on the nightly news nearly every day during the property tax crisis until the election in November.
Recently one of our founders, Sean Shepard was pictured in the NY Times at a rally in support of LGBT anti-discrimination during the RFRA cultural battle which played out in Indy during the past two weeks.
I would have been there myself with my big Indiana flag, but I was working that day. For the record, I think we are evolved enough to have it ALL! Personal AND religious freedom! And I publicly advocate for both. So do my friends. I hope your friends will too.
If you want to know the whole story of how I applied my knowledge of dominance and submission in the treacherous world of politics, read my book Spanking City Hall launched in 2014 with the help of my publisher, IBJ Books, an arm of the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Melyssa Hubbard
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