Hashtag, boycott are confusing to Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana conservatives watched their brethren in state after state approve legislation that, supporters said, was written to ensure the religious rights of their residents. Kansas in 2013, Mississippi in April, and, on Friday, the Arkansas Senate.

It is a mystery, then, to many in Indiana that a new hashtag has popped up on social media: #boycottindiana.

Criticism of Indiana legislation as discriminatory against gays broke out over the weekend in a torrent of canceled construction, stalled convention plans and the specter of businesses leaving the state.

Social media focused anger on the Indiana Statehouse after Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed into law far-reaching freedoms for religious beliefs, protecting those who say their beliefs forbid them from serving same-sex couples. It became the 20th state to pass such a law.

"I don't understand why Indiana is getting a bad reputation," said Krissi Johnson, serving hot dogs at a community gathering inside the firehouse in Austin, southern Indiana. "It would make more sense if we were the only ones."

Pence's signature set off a quick series of denouncements from gay-rights groups and politicians, even some Indiana Republicans, who question the fallout from the bill's prohibition against "substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion."

On Saturday night, the Indianapolis Star reported that Pence was willing to support legislation to "clarify" that the law does not promote discrimination against gays.

Calling the furor over the legislation "the deepest crisis of his political career," the Star said Pence blamed the anger on a "misunderstanding driven by misinformation."

Earlier Saturday, thousands marched against the legislation in Indianapolis with signs that included "Liberty for all Hoosiers."

Businesses began posting window stickers pledging to serve everyone.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), headquartered in Indianapolis for nearly a century, said it may move its biennial convention, scheduled for 2017, out of the state.

"Purportedly a matter of religious freedom, we find [the law] contrary to the values of our faith, as well as to our national and Hoosier values," the church said in a letter asking the governor to veto the bill.

Similar legislation has failed elsewhere. In Arizona last year, Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, vetoed a religious freedom bill after some companies expressed reservations about doing business in the state, though Arizona still has an earlier form of the law.

Some groups have already started that effort in Indiana. Angie's List withdrew an Indianapolis campus expansion project from consideration days before groundbreaking while it studies the the law. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat, said he would not permit the use of city funds for travel to Indiana. And the Indianapolis-based NCAA said it would re-evaluate its commitment to holding events in the state.

The freedoms ensured in Indiana's law come at the cost of the rights of gays and transgender residents, opponents say. Most often, the friction points are weddings. So far, legal disputes have centered on photographers and bakers who said it violated their religious beliefs to provide services for same-sex weddings.

Indiana residents note that the same furor could have arisen at any time since similar legislation passed in states such as Alabama and Idaho. Bills are also pending in Georgia and South Dakota.

Sarah Winchester, a 32-year-old nurse, isn't thrilled with the new spotlight on her home state.

"It's annoying that Indiana is getting the attention," Winchester said in Austin. "Southern states have done similar things for years."

The legislation could also be a rallying point for the gay-rights movement that has won same-sex marriage rights in dozens of states.

If anything, said Lauren Warman in Indianapolis on Saturday, the law challenges her notion of what kind of state she lives in.

In a notion gently mocked by native author Kurt Vonnegut but central to Indiana's identity, being a Hoosier just means being nice. She called it "Hoosier hospitality."

A Section on 03/30/2015

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