Governor Of Indiana Mike Pence (Photo : REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Indiana governor Mike Pence has signed into new law revisions on Thursday after the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) drew flak from corporate, civic and sports world.
The law had provisions that could have permitted discrimination against the LGBT community. Both corporate and sports honchos had called for denouncement of the act.
Meanwhile, before the amendment was signed, cloud computing company Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff had accommodate many of his employees who wanted to be transferred from Indiana.
Benioff said that the new law was "brutal" and "unjust." He also approved a $50,000 relocation package to the employees seeking transfer to other states, according to Blue Nation Review.
However, the corporate world has not expressed too much appreciation to the new amendments.
"Our position is that this 'fix' is insufficient," said Bill Oesterle, CEO of Angie's List.
"There was no repeal of RFRA and no end to discrimination of homosexuals in Indiana," he added. That means the corporate world would seek complete withdrawal of the RFRA.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, who unveiled the revised version said, "It was never intended to discriminate against anyone."
The Indiana House voted 66-30 and the Senate voted 34-16 to approve revisions to the "religious freedom" law, according to USA Today.
The new religious freedom law won't offer legal defense to organizations that discriminate stakeholders depending on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
It makes Indiana law to have the language "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" for the first time. Discrimination has found a new legal language.
The American Family Association of Indiana's Micah Clark has, however, said, "Homosexual activists are demanding Christian business owners in Indiana be forced to compromise their faith."
RFRA has attracted criticism from business, entertainment and civil honchos who fear the law could permit discrimination and damage the state's reputation.
However, Pence stood by the law and said misconceptions were being promulgated by the media.
LGBT issues have occupied major headlines in media in recent days. It would be interesting to see the reactions of businesses and civic organizations after the new amendments.
