During a press conference regarding Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, two state GOP leaders admitted that businesses would be able to display “No Gays Allowed” signs despite assertions that the law does not legalize discrimination against the LGBT community, RawStory reported.
A reporter pointed out to state Senate President Pro Tem David Long and House Speaker Brian Bosma that Indiana currently does not have a law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
“You guys have said repeatedly that we shouldn’t be able to discriminate against anyone, but if you just ignore the existence of this law, can’t we already do that now?” she asked. “Can’t so-and-so in Richmond put a sign up and say, ‘No Gays Allowed?’ That’s not against the law, correct?”
Bosman responded that it would depend on whether that business was in a “community that had a human rights ordinance.” If it was, then such a sign would be illegal.
“But most of the state does not have [a human rights ordinance], correct?” the reporter asked Bosman.
“That’s correct,” he said.
Indiana Republicans, including Gov. Mike Pence, have tried to pass off this discriminatory law as a protection of the religious freedom of the state’s business owners. The rest of the country and non-Republicans in the Hoosier state know better.
Watch Long and Bosma’s remarks from the press conference, posted by RawStory.
