By Mark Peters And Rachel Feintzeig
As corporations, public officials and even a rock band ratcheted
up pressure on Indiana over its days-old religious-objections law,
state lawmakers on Monday said they would try to find a way to
clarify that the measure wouldn't allow discrimination against gays
and lesbians.
Engine maker Cummins Inc., based in Columbus, Ind., along with
Dow AgroSciences LLC and Roche Diagnostics USA, both based in
Indianapolis, said they wrote Republican Gov. Mike Pence and state
lawmakers encouraging them to make changes to the law. Rock band
Wilco said it was canceling a May concert in Indiana. Connecticut
Gov. Dannel Malloy put a stop to state-funded travel to Indiana,
including those affiliated with the University of Connecticut.
The new law sets a legal framework for people or companies to
challenge government rules that hamper their practice of religion.
Opponents, and even some supporters, of the measure say it could
allow for businesses, including wedding-service providers, to seek
court protection not to provide services to gays and lesbians.
State lawmakers in Indianapolis, which is preparing for this
weekend's NCAA Final Four basketball tournament, are discussing
crafting a bill to clarify the law that could come later this
week.
Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said the bill wouldn't
allow discrimination, and added the governor's refusal to clarify
that helped fuel the controversy. Mr. Bosma said lawmakers plan to
make that "crystal clear" in the new bill they are drafting.
The law comes a year after the state legislature failed to get a
constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the ballot, which
angered social conservatives. Some have described the new law as an
effort to make up for that defeat. A federal circuit court ruling
allowed for gay marriage to begin in Indiana last fall, while a key
Supreme Court ruling on the issue is expected this summer.
While the sudden national attention on the state caught some
off-guard, others were less surprised after working for months to
defeat the measure. Marya Rose, chief administrative officer at
Cummins, remembers a protest more than a decade ago at a
shareholder meeting after the company provided benefits to same-sex
employees. But such opposition has long been fading.
"People were just not in tune with how much people have changed
about how they think about this," she said.
Polling done last year by the Pew Research Center found support
for same-sex marriage has been steadily growing, with 54% of those
surveyed favoring such unions compared with 31% a decade ago.
As for wedding-service businesses, the survey found 49% of those
surveyed said they should be required to serve same-sex couples,
while 47% said such businesses should be allowed to refuse services
on religious grounds.
For years, large-company chiefs worked behind the scenes on
controversial issues, quietly lobbying those in power while
maintaining public silence, says Sydney Finkelstein, a professor of
strategy and leadership at the Tuck School of Business at
Dartmouth.
That has been changing, especially among tech companies. Some of
the strongest opposition has come from that community, including
from Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook and Angie's List Inc. CEO
William Oesterle, who had managed the 2004 campaign of popular
former Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican.
Still, some find the timing of the outpouring questionable.
"I knew there would be some pushback, but I had no idea" how
large it would get, said Curtis Smith, president of the Indiana
Family Institute, a conservative group that lobbied in support of
the law. He said the bill had garnered very little attention until
it was signed.
The original federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed
in 1993 with broad, bipartisan support, had little to do with gays
and lesbians. Rather, it was largely aimed at shoring up
protections for less widely practiced religions whose unusual
rituals, like smoking peyote during ceremonies, might be rendered
illegal by laws of "general applicability, " like bans on
psychoactive drugs. The law passed in 1993 and was signed into law
by President Bill Clinton.
While bills such as the one in Indiana have been proposed in
more than a dozen states this year, few appear on track to become
law. In recent days the Montana legislature rejected a statewide
vote on such a law, while in Georgia, such legislation passed the
Senate this month but stalled in a House committee last week.
In Arkansas, lawmakers could vote on a similar bill as early as
Tuesday. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, has promised to sign
the bill into law, but added he is "pleased that the legislature is
continuing to look at ways to assure balance and fairness in the
legislation."
The challenge for Indiana legislative leaders is building
support for immediate changes to a law that is less than a week
old. The legislation passed overwhelmingly in the Republican
legislature.
Mr. Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long said they are
working with their caucuses and Mr. Pence on the proposed language
of what they are describing as a clarifying measure. They said they
are looking to move quickly on the legislation.
Support for the bill from Democratic leaders appeared unlikely.
They are pushing instead for a repeal of the law rather than a
clarification. At a morning news conference, they said Republicans
aren't moving aggressively enough in response to the
opposition.
"They were wrong, and it's time they admitted they made a
horrible mistake," said state Rep. Scott Pelath, Democratic
minority leader.
Write to Mark Peters at mark.peters@wsj.com and Rachel Feintzeig
at rachel.feintzeig@wsj.com
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