Indiana announce immediate plans to add LGBT protections to Religious Freedom bill
By Josh Haggis
Indiana lawmakers have announced immediate plans to alter the state’s Religious Freedom bill.
Signed by Gov. Mike Pence last week, the controversial legislation is expected to come into effect from July and in its current form will allow businesses to discriminate based on religious grounds.
Following a wave of backlash from celebrities and global businesses, lawmakers have announced today (April 2) that they intend to alter the bill to appease critics who have suggested that it could be used allow people to legally discriminate against the LGBT community.
In a statement to the press, Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said that the changes – which allegedly include adding the words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to the bill – will make a “strong statement to assure that every Hoosier’s rights are protected, and won’t be infringed upon”.
“Most importantly, the change in this will hopefully put an end to this greatest misperception of all, and that is that the people of Indiana discriminate, because I can tell you honestly, nothing could be further from the truth,” added Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore David Long.
More stories:
Rugby team strips off to fight LGBT domestic violence
High school football player’s awesome coming out: ‘Sorry girls, I’m gay