Religious-Freedom Law Denounced as Invitation to Discriminate Against Gays
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Indiana Law Denounced as Invitation to Discriminate Against Gays
By Michael Barbaro and Erik Eckholm of The New York Times
March 27, 2015An Indiana law that could make it easier for religious conservatives to refuse service to gay couples touched off storms of protest on Friday from the worlds of arts, business and college athletics and opened an emotional new debate in the emerging campaign for president.
Passage of the Republican-led measure, described by advocates as protecting basic religious freedom, drew fierce denunciations from technology companies, threats of a boycott from actors and expressions of dismay from the N.C.A.A., which will hold its men’s basketball Final Four games in Indianapolis beginning next weekend.
“We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees,” said the president of the N.C.A.A., Mark Emmert.
By Friday afternoon, influential national leaders including Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, and Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, had weighed in against the law, calling it a disappointing invitation to discriminate.
But Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, a Republican who has not ruled out a run for the presidency in 2016, defended the law as an “overdue” protection at a time when “many feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action.”
A similar furor was building in Arkansas on Friday as the State Senate adopted a version of the bill that has inflamed the state’s corporate giants, like Walmart, and high-tech companies the state is now wooing.
The laws are modeled on a federal religious protection measure adopted in 1993 and subsequently passed by 20 states. But the new push, and the vehement responses it has unleashed, reflect new passions surrounding the spread of same-sex marriage, with many conservatives invoking “religious freedom” as their last line of defense.
Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage was overturned by federal courts last year, giving new energy to the campaign for the religious protection bill signed Thursday by Mr. Pence.
Gay rights advocates said the laws pose a genuine threat of abetting discrimination, especially from business owners who object to participating in same-sex weddings.
“The possible discriminatory effects are real,” said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. At the same time, she said, “The general public understands this to be a proxy for tolerance towards L.G.B.T. people.”
Thee Indiana law opens the door for individuals or companies to refuse actions that impose a “substantial burden” on their religious beliefs. If that refusal is challenged in court, a judge must balance the religious burden with the state’s “compelling interest” in preventing discrimination, according to the law.
Eric Miller, who lobbied for Indiana’s new law as head of the group Advance America, said it could help Christian bakers, florists and photographers avoid punishment for “refusing to participate in a homosexual marriage”, protect a Christian business that refuses “to allow a man to use the women’s restroom”, and insulate a church that refuses to allow it premises to be used for a gay wedding.
But some legal experts say that the potential reach of the Indiana law, and many like it, have been exaggerated by opponents.
“The hysteria over this law is so unjustified,” said Douglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia and a prominent defender of so-called religious freedom laws.
“It’s not about discriminating against gays in general or across the board,” Mr. Laycock said of the Indiana law. “It’s about not being involved in a ceremony that you believe is inherently religious.”
Mr. Pence, at a news conference after he signed the bill, adamantly denied that it is intended to permit discrimination. “If I thought it legalized discrimination,” he said, “I would have vetoed it.”
As legal experts debated the law’s impact, its passage provoked an unusually swift and broad outcry.
Mrs. Clinton, a likely Democratic candidate for president, denounced it in a message on Twitter on Thursday night. “Sad this new Indiana law can happen in America today,” she said, adding that Americans should not discriminate against people because of “who they love.”
Opponents of the law seized on Indiana’s role as a corporate headquarters, calling for companies to suspend plans for conferences and conventions in the state.
Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce.com, a technology company with a major presence in Indiana, announced he would cancel all company events in the state.
“Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination,” Mr. Benioff wrote in a Twitter post.
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Marcus Bachmann Refused Service in Indiana, Store Owner Assumed He Was Gay
INDIANAPOLIS – Marcus Bachmann, husband of former Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, unwittingly became the first public face of Indiana’s newly-enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act, after being refused service at a dress boutique because the store owner assumed he was gay.
The Bachmanns were visiting the state capitol on Thursday to lend their support to embattled Gov. Mike Pence when the incident occurred. Dorothy Holtz, owner of Dotty’s Dress Den described what happened.
“I didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary at first,” said the 59-year old self-described “devout Christian citizen,” although I don’t usually have men come in by themselves. He was very polite but the more he spoke, the more I thought he was different.”
Holtz began to suspect that Bachmann was “perhaps a homosexual man”, and because it is now within her rights to refuse service based on religious beliefs, informed Bachmann she would be unable to serve him, and asked him to leave.
“I was aghast!” said Bachmann. I’ve been shopping for Michele for years! I had no idea why the woman in the store turned on me like that. I thought perhaps she had suddenly become ill.”
For many years, Marcus has been choosing Michele’s outfits without incident. In a Chicago Tribune article from 2006, Michele recalled an upcoming meeting with then Vice President Dick Cheney. Marcus decided to outfit Michele in a more feminine style than the Congresswoman usually chose for herself:
Before Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit, Marcus hit the stores – “he’s got a good sense of style” – and came home with “a sleek, simple hourglass dress with a yoke collar in winter white.” He even bought a matching coat and shoes. “I just slipped it on,” said Michele.
Marcus reacted with shock when he realized he had fallen victim to the very measure he had come to Indiana to support. “I was gobsmacked! I never realized a law meant to protect individuals’ religious freedoms would be twisted in such a way as to discriminate! Clearly, people are mis-applying this well-intentioned law.”
Shop owner Holtz said she was well within her rights and does not discriminate. “He was getting very persnickety and didn’t seem to like anything we had to offer. He said ‘my wife wouldn’t like this one bit’ and ‘my wife wouldn’t look good in that’ so many times I began to wonder if he had a wife at all! He had on a wedding ring but anybody can buy a gold band. He said my eyeshadow was too heavy. I decided whatever his lifestyle, I didn’t want to support it, so I asked him to leave which he did.”
Gay rumors have dogged Bachmann for years, exacerbated by charges that his Christian therapy clinic administered gay conversion therapy as a matter of course, rumors the Bachmanns have fiercely denied. “Marcus is the most rugged individual I’ve ever met,” said the former Congresswoman. “There’s never been a gay bone in his body,” she added.
Holtz will reportedly continue to exercise her religions freedoms throughout her dress shop.
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Marcus Bachmann Refused Service in Indiana, Store Owner Assumed He Was Gay
I love National Report. They're even better than The Onion.[nb]National Report, "Disclaimer," (2013) http://nationalreport.net/disclaimer
http://nationalreport.net/marcus-bachmann-refused-service-indiana-store-owner-assumed-gay [/nb]
