All the Fallout Happening to Indiana

Cities, businesses, bands join RFRA boycott
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2015 10:51 PM CDT
Updated Mar 31, 2015 1:00 AM CDT
All the Bad Things Happening to Indiana
Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy speaks at Norwalk City Hall last month.   (AP Photo/The Hour, Alex von Kleydorff)

As Apple CEO Tim Cook warned, Indiana's controversial new Religious Freedom Restoration Act is turning out to be pretty bad for business, with companies, cities, and at least one other state joining a boycott. Among those shunning the state over the law, which critics say could allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians:

  • "The 'Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act' feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination to us," the rock band Wilco wrote in a Facebook post announcing the cancellation of a May 7 gig in Indianapolis. "Hope to get back to the Hoosier State someday soon, when this odious measure is repealed."

  • Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy has signed an executive order banning state-funded travel to Indiana, calling the law "disturbing and outright discriminatory," reports the Huffington Post, which notes that Connecticut also has a Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but it only applies to religious institutions.
  • The Democratic mayors of San Francisco and Seattle have also banned city-funded travel to Indiana, the New York Times reports.
  • In Indiana itself, nine CEOs of the state's largest businesses have signed a letter urging Republican Gov. Mike Pence to reform the law, reports the Indianapolis Star. The CEOs, including the influential Republicans in charge of Angie's List and Kittle's Furniture, want Pence to change the law to make sure it can't be used to "justify discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity," the Star reports.
  • Malloy says the NCAA should consider shifting the Final Four games out of Indiana. NCAA chief Mark Emmert tells ESPN the organization is "surprised and disappointed" by the bill and is "awaiting clarification" before it can decide "whether or not it changes the environment for us doing our work and for us holding events."
(More Indiana stories.)

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