Republican leaders in Indiana say they will work to ensure the state's controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.
"This law does not discriminate, and it will not be allowed to do so," Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long said at a news conference with state House Speaker Brian Bosma.
They said they would "encourage our colleagues to adopt a clarifying measure of some sort to remove this misconception about the bill." The Associated Press says that the measure "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."
As Indiana Public Media reports, the two Republicans said the state's GOP governor, Mike Pence, was unclear about the law when he appeared Sunday on ABC's This Week. (Pence spoke of an "avalanche of intolerance that has been poured on our state" but declined to say whether the law makes it legal to discriminate.)
As NPR's Scott Neuman reported over the weekend, Pence in media interviews said he supports an effort to "clarify the intent" of the legislation while acknowledging surprise over the hostility it has sparked.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act stoked controversy almost from the moment it was passed by the state's Republican-dominated legislature and signed by Pence on Thursday. Pushback came not only from Hoosiers and the hashtag #boycottindiana, but also from some of the country's biggest corporate figures, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Angie's List CEO Bill Oesterle. (Scott has a roundup of the criticism here.)
Pence and other supporters of the measure note that Indiana is not the only state with such a law on the books. But as Scott noted, "Although the law is similar to a federal one and those in 19 other states, sexual orientation is not a protected class in Indiana, leaving the door open for discrimination, critics say."
At today's news conference, Long said the law "doesn't discriminate, and anyone on either side of this issue suggesting otherwise is just plain flat wrong."
Bosma added: "What it does is it sets a standard of review for a court when issues of religious freedom and other rights collide due to government action."
Democrats want the measure repealed, but Long and Bosma said that was unlikely.
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