Indiana's legislature passed, and Gov. Mike Pence signed into law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Nineteen states have passed similar laws, and Georgia and Arkansas have bills pending.
Last year, such a bill was killed in Georgia because of the strong protests of big corporations, including Atlanta based Home Depot and Delta Airlines. But they have been mostly silent this year, as a new bill wends its way through the legislature.
Instead, this year in Indiana we have seen immediate, strong protests from liberal religious groups, gay activists, and supportive politicians and public figures -- Hillary Clinton among them. And see Tim Cook's op-ed below.
The other strong pressure on Indiana is coming from sports and conventions scheduled to be held in Indiana. One of those is the NCAA, which is scheduled to play its Final Four games in Indiana in April. It's raising questions about whether some of its teams' members may face discrimination. [The law isn't set to go into effect until June.] Others, including a liberal church group are considering cancelling future convention plans in Indiana.
What's it about? Gov. Pence says the law simply protects the religious liberty of its citizens. Critics say it allows discrimination, most especially aimed at the LGBT individuals.
No one is going to force a business to stay open on the sabbath of its owners' religious faith. That is already guaranteed in existing laws. This law doesn't specifically state it, but it would definitely allow a publicly licensed business to refuse services to gays because the owners' religion teaches that homosexuality is a sin. That is the big difference.
They can say, all they want, that this is not their intent. But, if the law allows it, you can be sure that there will be some who will exploit it to that end.
And, if that was not their intent, how do they explain the fact that every proposed amendment that would have made that fact explicit was defeated? And why are some business establishments in Indiana already displaying signs that say: "We serve everyone"?
Despite their stated intent, the simple fact is that this spate of "religious freedom" laws comes in anticipation of SCOTUS' June decision that may bring marriage equality throughout the country. That's what this is really all about.
Don't pretend otherwise.
Ralph
Added 3:00 pm. Connecticutt's governor has issued an executive order saying no state funds can be used for official state business travel to Indiana because of this law.
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