Indiana governor demands changes to ‘religious freedom’ law

Forced on the defensive by a growing backlash over a "religious freedom" law deemed discriminatory, Indiana's Gov. Mike Pence demanded Tuesday that legislation be delivered to his desk by the end of the week to clarify that the act would not allow anti-gay discrimination.

Pence said Tuesday he has been meeting with lawmakers "around the clock" to address concerns that the law will allow businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians.

The governor acknowledged that Indiana has a "perception problem" over the law but added that it has been "grossly mischaracterized" and defended it as a vehicle to protect religious liberty. "I don't believe for a minute that it was the intent of the General Assembly to create a license to discriminate," he said. "It certainly wasn't my intent."

The law signed by Pence last week prohibits state laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his or her religious beliefs. The definition of "person" includes religious institutions, businesses and associations.

Although the legal language does not specifically mention gays and lesbians, critics say the law is designed to protect businesses and individuals who do not want to serve LGBT people. For example, it may allow florists or caterers to refuse to provide services for a same-sex couple planning a wedding.

Lawmakers in Indiana have come under increasing pressure over the law.

Businesses and organizations such as Apple and the NCAA have voiced concern over its effect, and some states have barred government-funded travel to Indiana.

Also Tuesday, The Indianapolis Star urged Indiana lawmakers in a front-page editorial to respond to widespread criticism of a new law by protecting the rights of gays and lesbians.

The Star's editorial, headlined "Fix this now," took up the newspaper's entire front page. It called for lawmakers to enact a law that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The newspaper says the uproar sparked by the law has "done enormous harm" to the state and potentially to its economic future.

Meanwhile, Arkansas was poised to follow Indiana in enacting a law despite increasing criticism from businesses and gay-rights advocates who call the laws a license to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The Arkansas House could vote as early as Tuesday on a proposal that would prohibit state and local governments from infringing on a person's religious beliefs without a "compelling" reason. And unlike in Indiana — where Republicans were figuring out how to clarify that their law isn't meant to discriminate — Arkansas lawmakers said they won't modify their measure.

"There's not really any place to make any changes now," Republican Rep. Bob Ballinger of Hindsville said about his proposal. "If there are questions in two years, we can fix it."

Hundreds of protesters filled Arkansas' Capitol to oppose the measure, holding signs that read "Discrimination is not a Christian value" and "Discrimination is a disease," and chanting "Shame on you" at Ballinger after the measure was endorsed by a House committee.

"I believe that many people will want to flee the state and many people will want to avoid our state," said Rita Jernigan, a protester and one of the lead plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging Arkansas' gay marriage ban. "I think it will hit us hard everywhere. I feel like we're moving backwards rather than being a progressive state."

Similar proposals have been introduced in more than a dozen states, patterned after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. Nineteen other states have similar laws on the books.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who had expressed reservations about unintended consequences of an earlier version of the bill, has said he would sign the current measure into law.

"If this bill reaches my desk in similar form as to what has been passed in 20 other states, then I will sign it, but I am pleased that the Legislature is continuing to look at ways to assure balance and fairness in the legislation," he said in a statement Monday.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are not included in Arkansas' anti-discrimination protections. Last month Hutchinson allowed a measure to go into law that prevents local governments from including such protections in their anti-discrimination ordinances.

Opponents of the bill hoped to target Hutchinson's campaign promise last year to be a "jobs governor." Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT rights group, has run ads in Silicon Valley aimed at the same technology firms Hutchinson has said he wants to lure to Arkansas.

Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post over the weekend opposing the Arkansas and Indiana measures, and retail giant Walmart has said the proposal sends the wrong message about its home state. Little Rock–based data services company Acxiom also urged Hutchinson to veto the bill, saying the measure would enable discrimination and open the state up to ridicule.

"This bill is at direct odds with your position that 'Arkansas is open for business,'" Acxiom CEO Scott Howe and Executive Vice President Jerry C. Jones wrote Monday in a letter to the governor.

In Indiana, the fallout from the law has ranged from the public-employee union AFSCME canceling a women's conference in Indianapolis this year to the band Wilco saying it was canceling a May performance.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an open letter to Indiana corporations saying Virginia is a business-friendly state that does "not discriminate against our friends and neighbors." Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sent letters to more than a dozen Indiana businesses, urging them to relocate to a "welcoming place to people of all races, faiths and countries of origin."

Al Jazeera and the Associated Press