INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of people, some carrying signs reading “no hate in our state,” gathered Saturday outside the Indiana Statehouse for a boisterous rally against a new state law that opponents say could sanction discrimination against gay people.
Since Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill into law Thursday, Indiana has been widely criticized by businesses and organizations across the nation, as well as on social media with the hashtag #boycottindiana.
Local officials and business groups across the state hope to stem the fallout, although consumer review service Angie’s List said Saturday that it is suspending a planned expansion in Indianapolis because of the new law.
The law’s supporters contend discrimination claims are overblown and insist it will keep the government from compelling people to provide services they find objectionable on religious grounds. They also maintain that courts haven’t allowed discrimination under similar laws covering the federal government and 19 other states.
State Rep. Ed DeLaney, an Indianapolis Democrat, said Indiana’s law goes farther than those laws and opens the door to discrimination.
“This law does not openly allow discrimination, no, but what it does is create a road map, a path to discrimination,” he told the crowd, which stretched across the south steps and lawn of the Statehouse. “Indiana’s version of this law is not the same as that in other states. It adds all kinds of new stuff, and it moves us further down the road to discrimination.”
The measure, which takes effect in July, 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.
The crowd on Saturday, for which police didn’t have an exact estimate, chanted “Pence must go!” several times and many people held signs like “I’m pretty sure God doesn’t hate anyone” and “No hate in our state.”
Zach Adamson, a Democrat on Indianapolis’ City-County Council, said to cheers that the law has nothing to do with religious freedom but everything to do with discrimination.
“This isn’t 1950 Alabama; it’s 2015 Indiana,” he told the crowd, adding that the law has brought embarrassment on the state.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican who opposed the law, said he and other city officials would be talking to many businesses and convention planners to counter the uproar the law has caused.
The Indianapolis-based NCAA has expressed concerns about the law and has suggested it could move future events elsewhere; the men’s Final Four will be held in the city next weekend.
