Southern Indiana leaders eye LGBT bill

The draft, written by Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, comes after the state's heavily criticized passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act from last spring. The new bill grants protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Though some local government and business leaders see the proposal as a step in the right direction, they expressed concern over religious exemptions.

But the implications of the bill don't stop at the rights of LGBT people, but also what it could ultimately mean for the state's business environment and economy are also concerns among leaders.

State Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, said he thinks the bill will get a central focus this legislative session, especially because RFRA got so much national attention for businesses refusing LGBT customers.

"You're talking about adding LGBT people to our state civil rights statute," Clere said. "The discussion is about adding LGBT people as a protected class through that statute. I fully support it. I'm concerned about any attempt to create exceptions and I think that's what we're likely to see in Sen. Holdman's bill, based on the comments he and [Senate Pro-Tem David] Long (R-Fort Wayne) made, the bill will contain a number of exceptions."

And there are a number of exemptions, which the first page of the bill says should be "liberally construed," including allowing small businesses with four or fewer employees to deny service for marriage ceremonies, marriage counseling and other services based on their sincerely-held religious beliefs. It also grants religious organizations, such as adoption agencies, non-profit daycares and non-profit schools, exemptions.

Greg Phipps, a city councilman in New Albany, worked with the council's human rights committee to pass an anti-discrimination policy for the city in 2013. While he said he supports the rights of churches to make their own hiring practices, he doesn't think individual exemptions should apply in a statewide anti-discrimination policy.

"I support the idea that religions should be able to consider who they want to hire in their churches, but I hope they don't put an exemption in there," Phipps said. "That's what that whole RFRA was about. I hope that doesn't creep back in, but I do support the right of a church to make their own rules when it comes to things like that. Beyond that, I don't think personal religious convictions should be a justification for discriminating in employment or public accommodations."

Clere said he thinks before religious exemptions should be granted in an anti-discrimination policy in regards to LGBT people, legislators should see if those same exemptions make sense in the case of other protected classes in the state civil rights laws.

"In other words, if a particular proposed exception would be acceptable in the context of race or age or disability, then maybe it makes sense in the case of LGBT people," Clere said. "But if it wouldn't pass muster to one or more of those other protected classes, then it would be hard to make it work in the case of LGBT people."

Clere said he thinks the bill will see several modifications before it gets to a final vote, which could include changing those exemptions.

GOOD FOR BUSINESS?

When the state passed RFRA, national coverage led to people on social media taking issue with what they thought it could mean for LGBT people, including denial of service based on a business owner's religious beliefs. Some said they'd never visit, live or work in the state.

Jim Epperson, executive director of the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention and Tourism Bureau, said larger cities in the state had quantifiable drops in tourism or business because of RFRA. Locally, it didn't make that kind of difference and the reaction was worse than anything.

"What we've had is a lot of social media backlash on our social media channels with people's opinions on Indiana and their commitments to not come to Indiana as leisure travelers," Epperson said. "It's hard to tell how much of that was real and how much was hyperbole."

That doesn't mean, he said, the impact was zero. He said destinations in the state probably had numerable effects and some conventions chose to not schedule in Indiana because of RFRA. With the anti-discrimination bill, he said it has the opportunity to repair some of that.

"It sounds a lot to me like a thoughtful conversation starter, at the very least," Epperson said. "I think [Sen. Long] said there's a long legislative process ahead of that bill and I think it'll have a lot of amendments offered. There are some threshold numbers in there … Sadly, the fix never gets as much attention as the original offense."

Tourism isn't the only sector that stands to gain some lost momentum, business could also see a boost. However, Clere said he thinks some of the concerns Southern Indiana faces with business in the future could at least in part hinge on the inclusion of all people.

On Nov. 13, Indiana University Southeast held its annual Economic Outlook Breakfast for local business and legislative leaders. Uric Dufrene, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, said at that breakfast while more jobs are coming to the region, local leaders need to attract as many people as possible here to fill them.

Part of that labor force will include LGBT people. Clere said alienating them won't help the labor force shortage.

"We have a shortage of talent here in Southern Indiana," Clere said. "This discussion is very relevant to that, to help solve our labor shortage. I think we have to be open to this discussion."

Wendy Dant Chesser, president and CEO of One Southern Indiana, said in an email that legislators need to consider whether any bill they put together has the potential for negative impact on the state economy.

“One Southern Indiana is a business membership and economic development organization so our foremost concern with any legislation is the impact it may have on our members and regional economy," Dant Chesser said in the email. "We encourage all public officials to consider these questions regarding any legislative action: Will the legislation work to attract a much needed workforce to the state? Will it draw new corporations and their facilities to Indiana? And finally, will this legislation support the assertion of Indiana as a business friendly state?"

Clere said perception can matter a lot to businesses eying new locations, especially as business parks like River Ridge look to expand.

"I think most businesses are looking to locate in places that are open and inclusive for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the issue of talent," Clere said. "Businesses want to be in the best possible position to attract and retain talent. For that reason, it's important to most businesses to be in a place that is open and inclusive where the business isn't going to miss out on any potential talent because of any discriminatory laws or perception. It's about both the real and perceived climate."

Phipps said he's happy to see New Albany's anti-discrimination ordinance working. Though the human right commission hasn't heard any cases, he said a couple of instances of alleged LGBT discrimination have been mentioned, but not acted upon.

"I think it would be great," Phipps said. "I think there's currently about 22 states that have some type of protection against employment discrimination. I think Indiana should move into the 21st century and adopt a similar policy."

Epperson said LGBT protections are polarizing issues with clear boundaries for people on either side of them. He said keeping the conversation going is important and positive, but it won't be easy.

"This may be one of those ultimate compromises that, in the end, makes nobody particularly happy," Epperson said. "Could the end result still be something that in perception doesn't address the negative concerns that some people have about Indiana and it therefore continues to be a source from which people say they're not going to visit Indiana? Yeah, that could absolutely still happen."

Clere said he thinks the bill could address a lot of the trouble caused by RFRA and he hopes it leads to the reputation he thinks the state deserves.

"It's time to prove to the world that Indiana is the warm and welcome place that we Hoosiers know it to be," Clere said.