Conservative Republican governor Mike Pence has been under attack ever since he said he will sign an anti-gay “religious freedom” bill. Now he’ll be doing it in private.
If nothing else, at least Mike Pence might be learning that there’s a cost to flaunting religious bigotry and anti-gay hate. The Indiana Republican Governor, who has never made a secret of his far-right conservative Christian views, took to Twitter on Monday to brazenly announce he was looking forward to signing SB 101, the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The RFRA, which passed Monday and went to the Governor’s office, will allow anyone, including organizations and businesses, to discriminate against anyone else, likely LGBT people, merely by citing their deeply held religious beliefs.
Since then, major corporations, including Gen Con, a $50 million annual gaming convention, SaleForce.com, Fortune 500 member Cummins, Eskenazi Health, and Eli Lilly and Co., along with George Takei, Pat McAfee, Jason Collins, the mayor of Indianapolis, and the State of Indiana’s tourism board have all come out against the legislation.
Today, Governor Pence moved from gleefully supporting the legislation to having a spokesperson announce he will be signing the bill privately on Thursday. No press allowed.
Local ABC News affiliate RTV6 notes the “growing backlash from opponents who believe it will open the door to discrimination.”
Leah Jackman-Wheitner is part of a movement on social media called “Where am I allowed to eat?” Her 18-year-old daughter is gay and she organized a rally outside of the courthouse in Columbus earlier Wednesday.
“That’s where the movement came from, is saying well, let’s just boil it down — where am I allowed to eat? I don’t want to offend a small business owner who doesn’t want to serve my family. So, I’d like to know where am I going to be allowed to bring my daughter to eat dinner,” Jackman-Wheitner said.
Pence Spokeswoman Kara Brooks claimed there is “no particular reason” why the Indiana governor opted for a private bill signing ceremony. “Some ]bill signings] are public; some are private,” Brooks told the Indianapolis Star. “Don’t read into it any more or less.”
Opponents of the bill expressed outrage on Twitter as well:
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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license