INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's Republican-led Legislature on Thursday passed changes to a divisive measure billed as a religious-freedom law, to make clear that it does not permit discrimination against gays, and Gov. Mike Pence quickly approved the revisions.
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Religious Freedom Restoration Act
The law enacted last week in Indiana, and the prospect of similar measures in other states, set off a national uproar, as critics said it was an anti-gay statute in the guise of religious freedom.
An array of major companies, associations and political figures around the country spoke out against the law. Some said they would boycott Indiana, prompting state business leaders to demand changes in a measure they said had hurt the state's economy and reputation.
A cadre of executives, along with gay-rights activists, joined lawmakers at a news conference Thursday to hail the proposed amendment to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ahead of its approval by the General Assembly.
Barton Peterson, senior vice president of Eli Lilly and a former Indianapolis mayor, said "the future of Indiana was at stake," and he praised lawmakers for putting the state's interests "above the desire to win, above the need for ideological purity, above the demands of politics."
The Republican leaders of the state Senate and House continued to insist that the original bill did not permit discrimination.
"We are sorry that that misinterpretation hurt so many people," state House Speaker Brian Bosma said before Thursday's vote. "I think the national concerns that were raised, that we're all hearing about, are put to bed."
Gay leaders welcomed the amendment but said it was just a first step. Indiana, like most states, they said, does not have a law explicitly barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The legislative leaders would not commit to considering such a provision, calling it a separate, more difficult issue, but suggested a discussion of it was now inevitable.
"They're going to be hearing from us again," said Kathy Sarris, president of Indiana Equality, a gay-rights group. "We're not going away."
The addition to the law says that the measure "does not authorize a provider to refuse to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodations, goods, employment, or housing to any member or members of the general public on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or United States military service."
It also says that the measure does not "establish a defense" to a civil lawsuit or prosecution for refusal by a provider to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodations, goods or more.
Pence asked for a clarification of the law Tuesday even as he defended it, saying it was meant only to protect religious freedoms. He said the law would not allow discrimination, and was merely misunderstood.
Earlier this week, an Indiana woman whose family owns a small-town pizzeria said she believed the the law supported the restaurant's right to deny service to any same-sex couples that might ask it to cater their weddings.
Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza said her family would serve a gay couple or a non-Christian couple at its restaurant in Walkerton but would say no if a gay couple asked it to provide pizzas for a wedding, because the business reflects her family's Christian beliefs.
The restaurant quickly faced a backlash, with an online review site overwhelmed with angry comments and semi-pornographic photos and more than 1,000 denunciations ruining the restaurant's rating.
O'Connor said Thursday that threats and financial damage wrought by the reaction to her comments were forcing her to temporarily close the restaurant.
Meanwhile, supporters of O'Connor launched a campaign on the GoFundMe website to raise money for her family. By 9 p.m. Thursday, one day after the campaign was created, almost $400,000 had been donated.
Information for this article was contributed by Monica Davey and Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times; by Andrew DeMillo, Tom Davies and staff members of The Associated Press; and by David Weigel of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 04/03/2015