Which makes the reaction to the passage of the God Gave Me The Right To Be A Bigot Act such Good News, as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was, in the words of the Indianapolis Star, "scorched by a fast-spreading political firestorm," one intense enough that Gov. NotWorthAFarthing almost immediately started promising unspecified "clarifications."Just some examples of the pushback: The Indianapolis Star, the state's largest newspaper, published a blistering front page editorial demanding the law be changed to ensure it does not allow for discrimination against LGBT people.
Thousands of people rallied outside the state capitol in opposition to the law.
 |
| Indianapolis rally against the law |
Nine CEOs of some of Indiana's largest employers, including Eli Lilly, Anthem, and Indiana University, signed a letter to Gov. NotWorthAFarthing and to legislative leaders telling them to reform the act so it can't be used to "justify discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity."
CEO of Angie's List Bill Oesterle canceled his company's proposed plan to expand its Indianapolis headquarters.
The CEO of San Francisco-based Salesforce.com declared it will stop holding meetings in Indiana.
AFSCME, which represents public employees, said it's moving its October conference for women out of Indianapolis.
Former NBA star Charles Barkley and sports commentator Keith Olbermann called for the NCAA to remove the Final Four from Indianapolis and the NCAA itself said it is "surprised and disappointed" by the law and said, depending on what that "clarification" says, it will have to "make judgments about whether or not it changes the environment for us doing our work and for us holding events."
The governors of three states - Connecticut, Washington, and New York - and the mayors of at least four cities - Portland OR, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle - have announced they are banning taxpayer-funded travel to Indiana.And in what is likely a result of the fallout, the Montana state legislature rejected a proposed referendum that if passed by voters would have given people grounds to disobey any state laws that they claim violate their religion.
In Montana, at least they didn't pretend this had nothing to do with LGBT rights: Supporters referred to allowing county clerks to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and letting pharmacists refuse to fill birth control prescriptions as examples of what the bill would accomplish.
The important thing is, they failed. The vote was as close as it could be, a tie in fact, but they failed. And that, too, is good news.
Note: There obviously have been some fast-moving events regarding the Indiana law which occurred after this show was done and so are not addressed here. They will be addressed next week in an Update.
Sources cited in links:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/indy-star-editorial-religious-freedom
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/gop-indianapolis-mayor-defies-pence-bans-discrimination-by-christian-businesses-receiving-city-funds/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/03/30/ind-religious-freedom-bill-business-reaction/70693326/
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/charles-barkley-ncaa-indiana-anti-gay-law
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/olbermann-ncaa-final-four-indiana
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/12587768/ncaa-president-mark-emmert-keeping-close-eye-indiana-legislators-new-law-allow-businesses-discriminate-gays-lesbians
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/30/1374389/-Connecticut-governor-vows-to-ban-state-funded-travel-to-Indiana
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/30/washington-indiana-discrimination-law_n_6973700.html
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mayors-governors-travel-bans-indiana
http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-house-narrowly-defeats-religious-freedom-bill/article_378a8c72-427b-56b3-ab05-a75eafaead06.html
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment