The state's Republican lawmakers Thursday finally came to their senses, amending the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to specify that it cannot be used as legal justification for refusing to provide services or products based on a customer's sexual orientation.
Republican Gov. Mike Pence, under intense pressure from business interests, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association, signed the bill into law Thursday evening.
While the modifications to the law are clearly a step in the right direction, Pence and GOP legislators fell short of a bold and imperative measure that would add gay, lesbian and transgender people to the groups protected in Indiana with anti-discrimination legislation.
Republicans made the lame argument that there was simply not enough time to draft and pass an important bill. But they easily could have (should have long ago) selected another state's anti-discrimination law as a template for such legislation.
This would have been a brilliant stroke to elevate Indiana to the level of enlightened states where discrimination against any law-abiding citizen is expressly forbidden. Instead, Republicans took the timid route of doing the minimum, just enough to get special interest groups and businesses off their backs.
The modification of the RFRA, of course, came only in response to a chorus of objections from across the nation emanating from diverse sources, including major corporations, churches, civil rights activists and gay rights interests.
If the RFRA had stood without modification, it would have resulted in major economic repercussions for Indiana businesses and economic development. Already, organizations such as gaming convention GenCon and online business reviewer Yelp had threatened to boycott Indiana as a pariah. The Indianapolis-based NCAA, preparing to host the men's basketball Final Four this weekend in Indy, had also expressed serious reservations about the RFRA.
The law, as originally written, would have enabled individuals and corporations to cite religious beliefs in denying services to gay customers. What business or group wants to be associated with a state that, essentially, protects the right to discriminate, thereby automatically reducing the pool of customers and employees?
Pence and his party colleagues, who hold super majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, were obviously taken off guard by the backlash against RFRA. For several days, they defended it, saying that it mirrored laws passed by 19 other states, as well as a federal law written in the early 1990s.
The state's Republican lawmakers Thursday finally came to their senses, amending the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to specify that it cannot be used as legal justification for refusing to provide services or products based on a customer's sexual orientation.
Republican Gov. Mike Pence, under intense pressure from business interests, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association, signed the bill into law Thursday evening.
While the modifications to the law are clearly a step in the right direction, Pence and GOP legislators fell short of a bold and imperative measure that would add gay, lesbian and transgender people to the groups protected in Indiana with anti-discrimination legislation.
Republicans made the lame argument that there was simply not enough time to draft and pass an important bill. But they easily could have (should have long ago) selected another state's anti-discrimination law as a template for such legislation.
This would have been a brilliant stroke to elevate Indiana to the level of enlightened states where discrimination against any law-abiding citizen is expressly forbidden. Instead, Republicans took the timid route of doing the minimum, just enough to get special interest groups and businesses off their backs.
The modification of the RFRA, of course, came only in response to a chorus of objections from across the nation emanating from diverse sources, including major corporations, churches, civil rights activists and gay rights interests.
If the RFRA had stood without modification, it would have resulted in major economic repercussions for Indiana businesses and economic development. Already, organizations such as gaming convention GenCon and online business reviewer Yelp had threatened to boycott Indiana as a pariah. The Indianapolis-based NCAA, preparing to host the men's basketball Final Four this weekend in Indy, had also expressed serious reservations about the RFRA.
The law, as originally written, would have enabled individuals and corporations to cite religious beliefs in denying services to gay customers. What business or group wants to be associated with a state that, essentially, protects the right to discriminate, thereby automatically reducing the pool of customers and employees?
Pence and his party colleagues, who hold super majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, were obviously taken off guard by the backlash against RFRA. For several days, they defended it, saying that it mirrored laws passed by 19 other states, as well as a federal law written in the early 1990s.