Current Affairs

Indiana Governor: We will ‘fix’ religious freedom law even though it doesn’t discriminate

Mar 31 2015
Written by Joseph McCormick

The Governor of Indiana has continued to defend his state’s new religious freedom law which has been accused of allowing businesses to discriminate against gay people, saying those claims are “completely false”.

Governor Mike Pence signed the bill into law last week, and has staunchly defended it – today calling its opponents “intolerant”.

The bill allows organisations, including businesses and churches, to refuse service to anyone on religious grounds, and is seen as a way for businesses to refuse service to LGBT clients. Nineteen other states have similar laws, and many others have proposals making their way through the legislature.

Now in a press conference, Governor Pence called the idea that the law enables gay people to face discrimination “completely false”, and added: “We will fix this and we will move forward.”

Earlier today, House Speaker Brian Bosma and state Senate President David Long, echoing words from Governor Pence, denied that the law is intended to legalise discrimination.

The law has gathered huge disapproval from celebrities and business owners, including Apple’s Tim Cook who called it “very dangerous”.

After the bill was signed last week, Marc Benioff, $4 billion (£2.6 billion) Salesforce’s 50-year old CEO, founder, and chairman responded on Twitter, saying the corporation would stop sending employees to Indiana, would reduce its investment in the state and called for others to do the same.

Singer Miley Cyrus also added a photo of Governor Pence to Instagram with the message: “You’re an a-hole”, and encouraged others to do the same.