Pence pointed out that the state's constitution already declares that "all people are created equal" and stated his own personal belief that "no one should be harassed or mistreated because of who they are, who they love, or what they believe." But he added, "Hoosiers also cherish faith and freedom to live out their faith in their daily lives." He reminded lawmakers that the state's constitution also protects the right to worship "according to the dictates of [our] own consciences" and prohibits laws that "control the free exercise and enjoyment of religious opinions" or "interfere with the rights of conscience."
Pence encouraged lawmakers to work out a solution acceptable to those advocating an expanded civil rights law and those arguing for the protection of religious freedoms without offering a specific proposal. He warned lawmakers that he would not support "any bill that diminishes the religious freedom of Hoosiers or that interferes with the constitutional rights of our citizens to live out their beliefs in worship, service or work."
Freedom Indiana released the following statement of disapproval following Gov. Pence's address tonight:
"This is a complete letdown. In his speech tonight, after 10 months of allegedly listening to Hoosiers, Governor Pence chose to punt the critical issue of civil rights protections for gay and transgender people to Indiana lawmakers. We are disappointed in his lack of leadership on an update that we know a majority of people in our state support.
"But it also means we have our work cut out for us: We must redouble our efforts so that lawmakers craft a good bill to send to the Governor that makes it clear that gay and transgender people should not be fired, denied housing or turned away from public spaces because of who they are or whom they love.
"We've worked hard before, and we'll do it again. We've shown up before, and we'll do it again. Protecting everyone in our state should not be this difficult, but we will make sure lawmakers and the Governor understand that doing nothing is not an option -- and creating another RFRA situation would be even worse."
Isn't the entire point of a RFRA that it already makes it so religious people and organizations are protected? If that's generally the case in regards to RFRAs, then I fail to see why a civil rights protection/expansion needs to specifically protect religious liberty as well.
ReplyDeleteIs the intention of Indiana lawmakers to include religious freedom protection in every bill they pass, because it seems a bit redundant. Why doesn't Pence yank the bible out of our faces and talk about the actual state of our state? He claims to have spent this year talking to University heads and business leaders about civil rights protections, but all he has to say is that "Hoosiers don't believe in discrimination". Forgive me, but wasn't that his gutless mantra when he was defending his original rfra; claiming there was no intent to discriminate and the going on ad nauseum about the need for religious protections. Is he the Pope or is he the governor. Because university presidents and corporate leaders have spoken in one voice to overwhelmingly request lgbt protections swiftly and without drama. Pence is just refusing to take responsibility and refusing to lead. The sad truth is that he walks in lockstep with the most evangelical bigots in the State, and he has no intention of signing anything that looks like what our university heads want. We've all been betrayed. Welcome to the theocracy.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:06,
ReplyDeleteNo RFRA any place has ever been found to override a civil rights law. The only thing that matters is how the civil rights law is written, who it protects. RFRAs were always irrelevant to that issue. The opposition to Indiana's RFRA in 2015 was incredibly disingenuous.
Piss off Ogden. You've had your 15 minutes of fame. Now you pop up every once in a while to say the same thing over and over. Blah blah. The rfra isn't discriminatory. Blah blah. Go back to your nap. Don't you pay attention to what legislatures are doing in Alaska and Virginia in the name of religious freedom. Its grotesque. And Pence is the poster boy for 21st century bigotry.
ReplyDeleteRichard and Meg wrote this up some time ago? The amoral corporations supporting sodomy never told the truth about why and no one believed their excuses or questioned their motives. NIFB, for instance, has 14,000 business members in Indiana and did Richard, Meg, or any of the objectively disordered ever care to poll them about matters? Duh Star? Of course not, dumb people and stupid ones are always inventing absurdities by which they can promote their desires as statements of fact. It is not surprising that the stupid party trundles along.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Wagner wrote the press release from Freedom Indiana.
ReplyDeleteCorporations do well to serve markets & shareholders; not lose themselves in a morass of social engineering & crony statism. The Chamber of Statism is a corrupted organ; dead to the purpose of business.
ReplyDeleteLike good investigative work; all marketing is profiling. All selection is a matter of discrimination; choice at the exclusion of other options. Disagreement is not mistreatment.
Bathrooms have been around long enough for people to figure them out; regardless of their "fluidity." The confused should seek out a one-seater & not expect the rest of us to enjoin their confusion or tolerate their experimentation with what most consider their sovereign privacy.
Intolerant faux-agressives are consumed & distracted with the menial; while issues of existential significance elude them. They dismiss what's become a global theater of war, anemically unsustainable-statist economics, counterfeit education & all manner of fascism posed as "government."
What a lot of drivel. Our Universities and largest corporations have spoken frankly about what Indiana needs to do to stay competitive and attract and retain top talent. Boggs is just an old, white apologist for the bigots, desperately trying to hold onto his vision of the nineteen fifties, so who's the statist? Pence only cares about protecting religious freedom, and he will throw everybody under the bus to protect that cabal. He claims to listen to business and our University presidents, but then he rejects the message. It was a mistake to believe he was open to compromise. Like Jindal, Huckabee and Santorum, he wants to empower the faithful and squash the opposition. No advice from the business community will sway that determination, and Mitch Daniels knows Pence considers him a godless tool of satan. In the world of Pence, the "word" is the word as spoken by evangelical ministers, and everything outside that message must be crushed in order to protect the religious freedom of those worthy.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the legislation tracker Protect Thy Neighbor, there are presently 59 anti-LGBT bills active nationwide in state legislatures. The site is tracking this post-Obergefell avalanche in multiple categories including same-sex marriage, adoption, healthcare, public accommodations, and religious liberty. Check out your home state, and bookmark the site, which is a project of Americans United For Separation of Church and State.
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:02: While your profiling is inconsistent with my self ID; it makes my 11:41 point. "Squash the opposition" is a suggestion you've made; not those faithful you cite. So we know what you're worried about; who is now discriminating against you (generically if you prefer) & keeping you from living the life you choose? Is it your position that others must approve or agree with you for you to live your life?
ReplyDeleteCouldn't care less about your approval Boggs. But the days when you old Christian farts can fire us or refuse us housing or slam the business door in our faces; those days are almost gone. Gay people will have the same civil rights protections as blacks. The fact that old Christian white guys fight that so much squares with all those old Christian white protestations about every discrimination protection won by every minority. We won't ask for one thing more than to add LGBT to all existing civil rights laws. If you can't do it to blacks, you can't do it to gays. If that's got your dander up, maybe you should have an honest conversation about it with somebody that can it explain it better. Our Universities and our corporate businesses and our more progressive Indiana cities have all identified the need to fix this wrong. You're either with them or you're part of the class that seeks to perpetuate the behavior. Mitch Daniels and the Presidents of every single large University in this State believe we should do it progressively ourselves instead of inviting the federal government and courts to come in and do it mandatorily, with all the embarrassment to our State that will entail. Its very telling that the evangelical Christian community is the community leading the opposition. This is why they are being called bigots in the national press and making our State a laughing stock. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, its a duck. If you lived in the fifties would you have supported the kind of laws that made Rosa Parks sit in the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white? Do you work in a place now where the boss can fire someone just because they're black? If a black person came to your place of business would you tell him you wouldn't serve him because your religion doesn't approve? These are discriminatory practices against blacks from a long time ago. But Gay people still face a unique set of discriminatory practices today. Blatant, in your face ones. I know you don't see it and I know you don't get it. But you have a chance to open your eyes. We don't need your approval Boggs, but how about your support. Is there no Christian compassion. The Pope just said some lovely things, he told Catholics to keep gay people in their churches, to keep them close, to stop judging them and to support them in their trials and tribulations. Half the protestant churches are supportive of gay marriage and nondiscrimination laws now, nationwide. Are you really the last hater standing?
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:13: You're more concerned about the frailty of perception than durability of reality. I know gays & blacks who don't agree with your equivocation with immutable characteristics; logic that's irreconcilable with behavioral notions & "fluidity." I work with competent gay professional & socialize with gay friends; by choice. Others have a right to do otherwise & don't feign "worldly" wisdom by telling me there's no such thing as hetero-phobia.
ReplyDeleteYes there's a right to associate & contract, therefore civil unions; but SS marriage is dry martini illogic, of that which is defined by tradition. People have a right to self determination; not rewriting common language, the basis for law. The Rosa Parks comparison is inaccurate; sexual behavior / preference being a mutable characteristic.
This issue isn't about who loves who; but who hates those of faith & seek retribution against them.
Matt Tully had the best op-ed piece today wherein he blasted Gov. Pence's State of the State speech: Here it is a sample in case you missed it.
ReplyDeleteIt was, without question, one of the worst speeches I’ve ever heard a politician give. It was empty and phony, an out-of-touch act of political self-preservation, and filled with cheap applause lines and small-ball notions at a time when Indiana needs boldness and big ideas.
Gov. Mike Pence had months to prepare for his annual State of the State address. He went out of his way in recent weeks to build up expectations for it. But in the end, the speech he delivered was as devoid of ideas and guts as it was any semblance of leadership.
Pence failed Indiana on Tuesday night. Yes, once again, he failed the state so many of us love and want to see move forward. He failed for many reasons. Here are a few.
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Anon 1:53: Everything Tully writes is an op-ed piece; of content deficient jour-nihilism.
ReplyDelete