Summary: Indiana Republicans await Gov. Pensce’s decision to sign a compromise measure that ensures protection for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) citizens.
Due to a rising national atrocity, Indiana state lawmakers unveiled a revised “religious freedom” bill on Thursday that is intended to limit discrimination towards the LGBT community.
To ensure that LGBT individuals are not discriminated against by the public or religiously, Indiana State Republicans have presented new protections to the state’s infamous Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“The new law will unequivocally state in the strongest possible terms that Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act will not be able to discriminate against anyone, anywhere, anytime,” stated David Long, Indiana’s Republican Senate President Pro Tempore.
“If there’s one takeaway from all the calamity in the past week it’s that religious rights and individual rights can coexist in harmony.” Long added, “The change will hopefully put an end to the greatest misperception of all, which is that Indiana residents can discriminate.”
The law is set up to include “antidiscrimination safeguards.” These safeguards “do not authorize a provider to refuse to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodations, goods, employment, or housing to any member or members of the general public.”
This remedy is intended to end any concerns that the bill could be misused to condone the justification of refusing service to citizens based solely on their sexual orientation. If the law is passed, it will be the first Indiana law granting LGBT individuals protection from business and religious discrimination.
Pence signed the original law last week. This led to a powerful debate on religion and personal freedoms. This law would have prevented any local government institution from initiating laws that “substantially burden” individual rights to express their religious beliefs in a business setting.
The main controversy in this law is that it is designed to use religious freedom to encourage discrimination by businesses that are in opposition of LGBT customers.
As a result of this controversy, there is a Twitter campaign that is promoting the boycott of Indiana goods and services. Many states are going out of their way to prevent state-funded activities that will be hosted in the Hoosier State. Other organizations that are participating in the boycott include Connecticut Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy, the band Wilco, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Source: New York Daily News