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Should LGBT Hoosiers Be Protected From Discrimination?

By Brandon Smith

Posted March 20, 2015

Debate over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, is prompting some lawmakers to ask the question: should LGBT Hoosiers be protected by law from discrimination?

RFRA says the government can't infringe on a person's religious practices unless it has a compelling reason to do so. Proponents of the controversial bill say the state's civil rights statute is an example of a compelling interest, and they say that proves RFRA won't be used to discriminate as opponents fear.

But the statewide civil rights law bars discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin or ancestry, saying nothing about sexual orientation.

Senate Republican Leader David Long, R-Fort Wayne, says he doesn't know if it should.

"I would hope that we could stop using and putting in place protections for everyone and just say that everyone has civil rights in this country and there should be no discrimination against anyone," Long says.

House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, says it should.

"In this day and age, anyone who fires someone for the sole reason of their sexual orientation well, I would think that most people would agree that that's wrong," Pelath says.

Gov. Mike Pence, who supports RFRA, says debate on that bill has nothing to do with discriminating against the LGBT community:

"I think that's a question for another time," Pence says. That's not what this is about."

Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, says courts will take care of any discrimination concerns RFRA's opponents might have:

"I think you can look nationally and not find a circumstance where a state that has a RFRA standard and the federal law have upheld a discriminatory action against an LGBT group," Bosma says.

About a dozen local city and county ordinances around the state bar discrimination based on sexual orientation but Pelath says he's worried RFRA will undo those protections.

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