Indiana lawmakers: Frenzy against religious freedom law unwarranted

Indiana legislators plan to clarify a religious freedom law after widespread backlash from gay-rights supporters.

Last week, Gov. Mike Pence signed the law that mirrors the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). It prohibits the state from passing any measure that substantially interferes with religious practice. President Bill Clinton signed the federal version of RFRA 22 years ago.

But critics of Indiana’s law say it could allow businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian patrons. They have accused Indiana of bigotry and called for a boycott against the state. Thousands of demonstrators rallied at the Indiana Statehouse on Saturday carrying signs with slogans such as, “No hate in our state,” and “Fix the bill.” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post condemning the legislation and comparing the plight of homosexuals in America to that of African-Americans before the Civil Rights movement. And internet company Angie’s List announced the cancelation of a $40 million expansion of its headquarters in Indianapolis.

This morning, Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long held a news conference to address the criticism.

“To the extent that we need to clarify through legislative action that this law does not and will not be allowed to discriminate against anyone, we will do just that,” Long said. Leaders did not say how they would clarify the law, but did note they do not plan to repeal it.

“This law does not and will not be allowed to discriminate against anyone,” Long said. Bosma called the negative reaction against the law a “mischaracterization.”

Those defending Indiana’s RFRA point to history to show it is not a tool for discrimination. Nineteen other states already have similar laws. Illinois established its RFRA in 1998, and then-state Sen. Barack Obama voted for it. In a recent test of one of those laws, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled against a photographer who in 2006 refused to take pictures at a same-sex commitment ceremony. The court upheld a judgment by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission ordering photographer Elaine Huguenin to pay almost $6,637.94 in attorney’s fees.

“RFRAs are not blank checks,” Boston University religion professor Stephen Prothero wrote for USA Today. “They simply offer religious minorities a day in court, and only rarely do these cases concern gay rights.”

But the history and plain meaning behind Indiana’s new law have not stopped Cook and others from calling it dangerous and warning it will lead to Jim Crow-like discrimination against gays and lesbians. Messages like Cook’s take advantage of a secular public’s ignorance about religious beliefs, wrote Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee.

“This is particularly problematic when widespread ignorance of religious motivation is joined with a zealotry that can only be called religious: for the stamping out of all dissent against the sexual revolution,” Moore wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.