After almost a week of outrage from millions across the nation, Indiana’s Republican governor Mike Pence and his GOP controlled legislature made believe that they created a “fix” to the the states newly signed RFRA law that would have allowed almost any private party to claim religious freedom when it wanted to discriminate against gays. But the “fix”signed into law on April 2 does nothing but return protections to the 11 communities out of the 119 cities and 447 towns in the state that have local LGBT protections on the books leaving the rest to mercy of anti-gay bigots across the state since the state of Indiana does not protect LGBT people from discrimination by private businesses as a whole.
While it seems that some have been tricked by Pence into thinking that the fix will cover Indiana’s LGBT community. It does not. It only moves some LGBT Indianans back to where they originally were before. Second class citizens to a lesser degree albeit, but still second class citizens. And leave s the rest to the mercy of religious extremist.
But at lease some aren’t buying Pence’s sleight of hand.
Angie’s List, the Indiana-based business-review website that has been one of the most vocal critics of the law, reports the The Indianapolis Star.
“Our position is that this ‘fix’ is insufficient,” Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle said in a statement Thursday morning, reported by the Star. “There was no repeal of RFRA and no end to discrimination of homosexuals in Indiana.” And as s a result of the “insufficient” changes, Angie’s List is standing by its decision to cancel a planned expansion of its headquarters in Indianapolis.
Also the American Civil Liberties Union in a statement Thursday morning said: With these amendments, the RFRA cannot be used as a defense in some kinds of discrimination cases. (In the cities that have local protections) That’s a major improvement. But it still poses a risk that it can be used to deny rights to others, including in education, access to health care, and other aspects of people’s lives. While this is one piece of the solution, it is incomplete.”
This past week in Indiana was a watershed moment in LGBT history One that we should not waste. We must continue fighting for our rights and not settle for these crumbs. We must continue to fight and push for for full equality and civil rights protections. We cannot waste the momentum that we have gained this week and the good will of out allies who are helping us.
We must continue to fight. We must continue push. And we must continue boycotting Indiana until every LGBT citizen of that state and in America is protected and equal in the eyes of the law. This is not just about Indiana. This is about every state. We must PROVE that we are a force to be reckoned with and that we can and will win.
#WWHD? (What Would Harvey Do?)
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