By John Mack Freeman
This week, Governor Mike Pence (R) of Indiana signed into law a religious freedom bill. Opponents of the law claim that it will allow businesses throughout the state the ability to refuse service to GLBT people based on religious grounds.
The backlash against the law has been swift and vocal. Cloud computing business Salesforce has cancelled meetings and conferences in the state. Yelp has said they will not expand into states with religious freedom laws. Angie’s List has cancelled an expansion of their headquarters in Indianapolis. Gen Con (a gaming convention) and Christian Church Disciples of Christ are reconsidering Indiana as a site for their conventions. The cities of San Francisco and Seattle are declining to pay for official travel to the state. And a plethora of celebrities and notable figures have condemned the bill.
Governor Pence spoke to several news organizations on Sunday trying to clarify the law. While he would not say that the law explicitly allowed for discrimination against GLBT people, he would not say that it didn’t either. Further, he declined to seek GLBT protections at the state level in Indiana.
It should be noted that under Indiana law, businesses were already allowed to discriminate against GLBT people except in the localities that specifically had protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the animus behind the current bill has brought the issue to the forefront and has placed the state in hot water with many allies of the GLBT community.
A conversation is currently underway on the GLBTRT e-mail list discussing how this will effect the organization as the 2021 Midwinter Meeting is currently scheduled for Indianapolis.
