Civil Rights debate could follow RFRA controversy

Advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community say the uproar over the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act brought to light Indiana’s lack of a statewide non-discrimination law on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Those advocates say they will work hard to make sure the General Assembly considers those protections. It’s the next round in a years-long push to expand gay rights. In 2014, lawmakers effectively delayed a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. This year, a firestorm over the new “religious freedom” law prompted Indiana’s socially conservative Republican governor and GOP-dominated General Assembly to clarify the law’s intent.

“One of the outcomes of this whole ordeal has been the highlighting of the fact, for many individuals, Civil Rights Laws leave them out,” said Jane Henegar, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Business leaders speaking Thursday at the Statehouse when changes to the law were unveiled spoke of it as a first step in adding protections for LGBT Hoosiers. Some 21 states and the District of Columbia have non-discrimination laws on either the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, or both, including Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

One of the business leaders, Scott McCorkle, CEO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, said clarifying the law was a positive move.

“But it is a first step in a larger discussion we acknowledge the importance of equal rights for all,” McCorkle said, “and I’m excited of what will come in the next step in our journey.”

The “fix” that Gov. Mike Pence signed into law Thursday bars the Religious Freedom Restoration Act from being used as a defense to discriminate against any member of the public, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and preserved the handful of local ordinances, including in Evansville, that offer protections for those groups.

But changes ushered through the legislative process last week solely relate to the “religious freedom” law and offer no statewide Civil Rights protections. While specific to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the clarifying language does mark the first time protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity will exist in state law.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long, a Fort Wayne Republican, said lawmakers likely will weigh adding sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes to the state’s Civil Rights Laws next year.

When asked why lawmakers couldn’t consider adding the protections this year, House Speaker Brian Bosma, an Indianapolis Republican, said while conversations over the last week opened perspectives, the proposed change is a big policy step with strong feelings in both directions.

“It’s the beginning of the discussion. One positive outcome of this is that the discussion is taking place and that will be for future sessions of the General Assembly to determine,” Bosma said.

Long said a discussion on adding sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes is going to happen.

“Today has started that discussion,” Long said as he and Bosma announced the “fix” for the law. “It’s a big policy question and it’s important we hear from all Hoosiers on it.”

Meanwhile, Democrats have repeatedly called for the protections throughout the intensifying debate over the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Currently, most protections for the LGBT community exist at the local level in a handful of cities with ordinances. Local human rights ordinances across the state vary. Some offer protections solely on the basis of employment. In Evansville, protections for sexual orientation and gender identity cover education, employment, public accommodations and housing. However, the city’s ordinance is a voluntary process, meaning the respondent with a complaint filed against them is not required to participate with the investigation.”

Henegar said the goal is for the General Assembly to pass full protections, which would also cover areas such as housing and public accommodations.

“We will be working tirelessly between now and the next session to achieve that result,” Henegar said.

Katie Blair, campaign manager for the grassroots organization Freedom Indiana that opposes the law, said the group will place its resources behind a statewide non-discrimination law.

“We’ve seen more interest in that than we ever have in this state,” Blair said. “I think that (the law) honestly brought attention to the fact that LGBT Hoosiers aren’t protected. I think it was one of the best kept secrets that the other side had.”