Public pressure works: The crucial lesson in Mike Pence’s call for a religious freedom “fix” [View all]

[DonViejo]

It remains to be seen what Pence's changes will look like, but activists have already won a major victory

LUKE BRINKER

Appearing subdued and exuding an air of contrition, Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s Tuesday press conference on Indiana’s anti-gay “religious freedom” law was a stark contrast to his appearance on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday, when Pence defiantly defended the law, even as he repeatedly refused to say whether he thinks discrimination against gay people should be legal. Now, Pence is calling for a “fix” to the law, maintaining that it does not provide a license to discriminate and avowing that he personally “abhors” anti-gay discrimination.

“I don’t believe for a minute that it was the intension of the General Assembly to provide a right to discriminate,” Pence said. “But I can appreciate that that’s become the perception not just here in Indiana but across this country.”

How ever could that have happened? Well, the language of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act is quite clear: “A person whose exercise of religion has been substantially burdened, or is likely to be substantially burdened, by a violation of this chapter may assert the violation or impending violation as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding, regardless of whether the state or any other governmental entity is a party to the proceeding,” the statute reads. Sure, the law does not explicitly state that business owners are free to put up a “no gays allowed” sign, but it provides a compelling legal defense for businesses and individuals who deny services to LGBT people on religious grounds.

Amid a social conservative backlash against marriage equality and the increased visibility of LGBT people, conservative lawmakers have introduced similar measures throughout the country, often flat-out admitting that the purpose is to target the LGBT population. Pence has not been as forthcoming, but the purpose of the law was clear. Look no further than the people who stood behind Pence as he signed the legislation. They included American Family Association of Indiana head Micah Clark, a promoter of “ex-gay” therapy; conservative lobbyist Eric Miller, who calls the fight against LGBT equality “the greatest moral battle of this generation”; and Indiana Family Institute president Curt Smith, who once charged that gay people have no “life beyond absorption with narcissistic sex.”

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http://www.salon.com/2015/03/31/public_pressure_works_the_crucial_lesson_in_mike_pences_call_for_a_religious_freedom_fix/