GOP Mayor of Indianapolis Issues Executive Order Defending Gay Rights
In response to Indiana's new, widely criticized "religious freedom" law that may permit discrimination against gays and lesbians, the Republican mayor of the state's largest city signed an executive order reaffirming that businesses receiving city funds could not refuse LGBT customers.
"Discrimination is wrong," said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard at a press conference on Monday. "And I hope that message is being heard loud and clear at our Statehouse."
The executive order also called upon Governor Mike Pence to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in Indiana, an act that would effectively block the law's anti-gay implications.
Pence, who has the defended the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as mischaracterized by outsiders and "not about discrimination," said on Saturday that such protections were "not on his agenda."
Numerous individuals and organizations have spoken out against the bill since it was signed into law late last week, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, NCAA president Mark Emmert, the cities of San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and St. Paul and the states of Washington and Connecticut.
On Monday, the band Wilco announced it was canceling an upcoming tour date in Indiana because of the law, saying the Religious Freedom Restoration Act seemed like "thinly disguised legal discrimination."
"Hope to get back to the Hoosier State someday soon," wrote the band on Facebook, "when this odious measure is repealed."
