Angie’s List, one of the first companies to object to Indiana’s religious freedom law, on Thursday morning said that the changes proposed by Indiana lawmakers did not go far enough in addressing the company’s concerns.
“Our position is that this ‘fix’ is insufficient,” Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle said in a statement, according to the Indianapolis Star. “There was no repeal of RFRA and no end to discrimination of homosexuals in Indiana.”
Oesterle said that as long as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) remains in place and Indiana does not provide further protections for gays and lesbians, Angie’s List will not expand its presence in the state, according to the Star.
“Employers in most of the state of Indiana can fire a person simply for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning. That’s just not right and that’s the real issue here. Our employees deserve to live, work and travel with open accommodations in any part of the state,” Oesterle said in the statement.
Angie’s list had been planning a an expansion project in Indianapolis, but halted the project when Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed the religious freedom bill.
After significant backlash against the law and concerns that it would permit discrimination against gays and lesbians, Pence asked the legislature to clarify that the law does not allow discrimination.
On Thursday, Indiana lawmakers proposed changes to the law that would keep businesses from using the law to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The changes would not establish sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class under the state’s civil right’s laws.
Other businesses who opposed the original law expressed support for the changes on Thursday morning. The Salesforce CEO, as well as the vice chairman of the Indiana Pacers joined Indiana lawmakers at a Thursday press conference to express their support for the proposed “fix.”
Whoa…You go grrrrl!
Uhhh…they aren’t interested in making any fix ‘sufficient.’ They just want the sportscasters to get back to talking about basketball.
Maybe the law is insufficient, but it seems to me that the proposed amendment leaves things in a better state now than they were before the original discriminatory law was passed because it explicitly states that “sexual orientation” cannot be an excuse for denying services to someone. Before now, I don’t think there was any mention of sexual orientation in Indiana law – or anywhere in the laws of most other conservative states. I do agree that firing of employees due to their sexual orientation and gender identity needs to be banned as well everywhere in the country, but hiring and firing wasn’t really the issue with this RFRA.
Good for Angies List for opposing the RFRA law, but let’s not make them out to be the angels that they are most definitely not.
Oy, thanks for casting me as a bad guy lightweight to make yourself seem thoughtful. Give my best to Aunt Jemima, Mr. Clean, Uncle Ben and the Pillsbury Doughboy…